John Lockyer Drury, 55, was on holiday in Tenerife with his wife Lisa when he suffered a heart attack – he is now in a coma and his wife claims their insurer is not helping them
A grandad suffered a heart attack[1] while on holiday in Tenerife[2] – leaving his family facing medical bills totalling €36,000 (£31,355).
Delivery driver John Lockyer Drury was in his “favourite place” with his wife Lisa when he became seriously ill on September 21. The 55-year-old, who lives with his wife in Cambridgeshire, was revived by paramedics on the Canary Island – but is still in a coma weeks later.
His wife has now said she is struggling to get clear answers from insurer Admiral about whether she will be compensated for the hefty medical bills she has already incurred in. The 49-year-old travel consultant claims the insurers initially tried to blame John’s heart attack on his umbilical hernia and mild asthma in an effort not to pay out.
READ MORE: Dad, 46, died of a heart attack after symptoms were mistaken for a stomach bug[3]
On their part, Admiral said they were dealing with the case “as a matter of urgency”. Sharing details of the incident, Lisa said: “We were on holiday in Tenerife. Tenerife is John’s favourite place. He was at his happiest. We used to live there, so we have some friends there.
“On the Sunday night, he collapsed with a heart attack. He’d never had one before and he has no history of heart conditions whatsoever. It was incredibly scary. I called the ambulance and had to do chest compressions until they turned up.
“He was unconscious. They worked on him for what felt like a lifetime. They took him to hospital and I was not allowed to see him until one o’clock the next day. I had no information from anybody.”
Lisa is now worried about the potential costs she will have to face, in addition to her concerns about John, as she doesn’t know when or if he will wake up from the coma. She claims that despite having taken out travel insurance with Admiral – with up to £10million in medical cover – she has still not been told how much, if any, compensation she will receive.
She said: “He’s in quite a bad way, and Admiral still aren’t telling me how much they are going to pay. I was told the hospital wanted Euro 10,000 from me. I still don’t know what Admiral are covering. I’m staying at a friend’s house, but I can’t stay indefinitely. It could be nothing [that Admiral cover], or it could be a percentage. I am stuck in limbo.”
Lisa had her husband, who has three children and six grandchildren, moved to a free hospital after being asked to make payments of thousands of pounds at the original hospital he was being treated in. “The bill is already at €36,000, and I don’t know if we are going to get help to pay that,” she said. “I can’t afford to have a debt of that amount. It will be more now.
“At the moment, John’s still sedated. He hasn’t been conscious since the heart attack. His heart is fine and the sedation has been reduced. But they’re not sure about brain damage. There’s still a chance I won’t be getting him back and I’m still stuck with nowhere to stay and no idea of how I will support myself.
“I was due to fly back to Tenerife after going home today, but my claims manager at Admiral told me that if I waited, John probably wouldn’t be alive. She said, ‘Looking at his medical report, I don’t think he will last until Monday.’ You can imagine, I was told on Friday that if I didn’t get out there, I might not see my husband again.
“They tried to blame his asthma, but it’s completely under control. He had a blocked artery – that’s what caused the heart attack, not the asthma. After a week, I think I should at least have some kind of idea what kind of cover I’ve got.
“They have been completely and utterly useless. It’s not about the money. It’s more about what Admiral are doing. One week on, and I still have nowhere to stay. Admiral have been no support and no help. I’ve had more support from the British Consulate.
“They’ve not told me anything. I have no idea how much is being covered, and whatever they don’t cover, the shortfall is on me. There could be a bill of €45,000 (£39,200) coming my way.” Describing her husband, Lisa said: “Everybody loves him. We’re from Essex originally and he’s got that cheeky Essex boy charm about him. He’s the most caring person.”
A spokesperson for Admiral said: “We are very sorry to hear of Mr Lockyer Drury’s situation following the heart attack he had while in Tenerife and we appreciate that this is a distressing time for his family. We can assure Mrs Lockyer Drury that we and our agents in Tenerife are dealing with this as a matter of urgency.
“Following his heart attack on 21st September, Mr Lockyer Drury was admitted into the ICU of a private hospital in a very serious condition. We understand the hospital told Mrs Lockyer Drury it was likely she would need to stay in Spain for several weeks, which we understand alarmed her.
“Mrs Lockyer Drury arranged for her husband to be transferred to the public hospital, signing a self-discharge on 24th September. In order to confirm if we can cover a claim, we will check a customer’s previous medical history to make sure all necessary information has been shared and the right premium has been paid.
“These checks do not prevent any emergency treatment a customer needs. However, a customer may have to contribute once the medical situation is resolved if there is not full cover in place. In this instance, it appears that some pre-existing medical conditions may have not been declared.
“We have applied for and are still awaiting information from Mr Lockyer Drury’s GP on his medical history. We continue to chase this as a matter of urgency. Our advice for the customer to return to Tenerife was based on the medical information we had received from the hospital at the time.
“Whilst we do understand the distress this may have caused Mrs Lockyer Drury, we didn’t want a situation where something very serious happened without her being aware or present. We did this out of the best of intentions and not to cause further distress to an already difficult situation.
“From our review we know the case manager has also been in regular communication with Mrs Lockyer Drury throughout, including while she was in the UK but if there is more we can do then we will continue to provide all the support needed. We appreciate the seriousness of the situation and are closely monitoring the case and we will continue to support Mrs Lockyer Drury.”
John’s condition is deteriorating rapidly and it is unclear if we will survive. Mrs Lockyer Drury has set up a GoFundMe page to cover potential medical bills, and you can donate here[4].
References
- ^ heart attack (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Tenerife (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Dad, 46, died of a heart attack after symptoms were mistaken for a stomach bug (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.gofundme.com)