A grandmother with terminal cancer is stranded in a Spanish hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage during a family holiday in Benidorm. Mally Stubbings, 50, from Boston, Lincolnshire, was placed in intensive care on June 9 after a CT scan revealed a minor bleed on her brain. She has since been moved to a normal ward, but her family remains uncertain about her discharge date or return to the UK.
Family's Ordeal
Her sister-in-law, Natalie Hancock, explained: 'She's still stuck in the hospital in Benidorm, she's not in intensive care any more, she's on a normal ward, but they have told us she's not allowed to fly back to England because of the air pressure. They've got no idea when she's going to be discharged.'
The 50-year-old had been enjoying a family break in Spain with her three children, two grandchildren, son-in-law, brother, and sister-in-law when she fell ill. Mally is living with stage three terminal lung cancer and had completed two years of treatment on May 8, designed to prolong her life.
Creating Memories
Natalie revealed that due to Mally's medical care, the family had been prevented from taking a proper holiday together and were keen to create precious moments as a group. Mally departed for Spain on June 2 with her children and grandchildren, before being joined by her brother Stuart and Natalie on June 9 in what was planned as a surprise reunion.
However, Mally fell seriously ill at the beginning of the break due to a stomach infection and was taken to hospital on June 8, then discharged the next day. On June 10, she lost mobility in her legs and experienced multiple vacant seizures, prompting her family to rush her to A&E.
Natalie said: 'An ICU doctor came and said we are going to admit her to the ICU as she has a small bleed on the brain. She was in the ICU for a full day and night, and then she was moved to a normal ward and has been there since.'
Financial Strain
Mally's partner Carl, her daughter Gypsy, and two grandchildren have remained in Benidorm to be with her. They were forced to check out of their hotel on their scheduled return date and secured an Airbnb costing £1,000 for the week. Natalie said: 'They have insurance, but it seems you have to pay for everything and then claim it back from the insurance company lately, so we're in a bit of a predicament, really.'
Natalie, 47, set up a GoFundMe page to assist relatives who stayed abroad with Mally, while others flew home due to work or financial constraints. She added: 'We can't leave her out there on her own. There's a massive language barrier in the hospital as well; there is a translator, but you can't always get hold of her, so they're having to use Google Translate all the time.'
Repatriation Challenges
The family explored hiring a private company to repatriate Mally but received a quote exceeding £30,000. Having scrimped and saved to fund the holiday, this is not viable. Natalie said: 'It's absolutely insane, no normal person has that type of money. They had all saved really hard, and this holiday was to make memories, and we have no memories, we just have bad ones now.'
