A distraught mother is warning parents to be vigilant when buying travel insurance after a dream holiday ended up a “living nightmare” when her 19-month-old daughter suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Natasha Sargent, 31, has been forced to fundraise for a private medical flight costing £119,000 to take her daughter Sienna-Rose home to the UK from Mexican holiday spot Cancun following the ordeal.
The mother-of-three from Croxteth, near Liverpool, said she took out insurance for the family using a comparison website, but she admitted that due to an “honest mistake” on her daughter’s medical records it was rendered invalid.
“I thought I had done it correctly; it was an honest mistake. You don’t ever think you would be in this situation,” she told The Independent.
Ms Sargeant said she was on holiday in the tropical paradise with her partner Liam Millen, 39, and children Harry, 13, Liam, 11, when the toddler suddenly collapsed when playing with her brothers.
Sienna-Rose was rushed to three different hospitals before doctors gave her life-saving surgery to remove part of the clotting. A blood clot remains in the left part of her brain and it is unknown what caused the haemorrhage.
The toddler is currently being treated in Cancun General Hospital, where she has been for over a week, and awaiting a medical flight home. However, without insurance the family have been left to fundraise to pay the costly medical bill.
Now, Ms Sargeant is warning others to “triple check” their medical records and make sure details are “spot on” before getting medical cover.
“We did take a policy out on a comparison website, but she had numerous hospital visits for jaundice and bronchitis from when she was a baby and we didn’t disclose all the dates, so the insurance was invalid,” she said.
Ms Sargeant, who works as a healthcare assistant, said Sienna-Rose “was completely fine” when they flew out last week, but five days into the holiday she collapsed and vomited about 50 times in the space of two hours before they could get any help.
“We rushed around trying to get her to different hospitals. Eventually she had a CT scan which revealed she had a brain haemorrhage,” Ms Sargeant said.
“Doctors said her brain had swollen and there was a lot of fluids, so she needed emergency surgery.”
Describing the ordeal as “horrendous”, Ms Sargeant said Sienna-Rose had deteriorated badly following her operation and was suffering with fevers.
“The first day after the operation, she was fine, she was drinking, and we were going to start weaning her back on food. Then, the next day she took a bad turn and just hasn’t been the same since,” she said.
Only one person is allowed to visit Sienna-Rose at a time, meaning the parents have been taking it in turns to sit by her bedside, while the other looks after their son’s.
However, on one occasion Ms Sargeant was refused entry into the hospital because she was wearing “flip flops” and “holiday clothes”.
“They refused me entry into the hospital, they said I needed to buy some clothes first. It was horrendous, I was crying and begging them to let me in and see her,” she said.
Sienna-Rose, who is not fit to fly commercially, is set to take an 11-hour flight back to the UK with an air ambulance on Saturday after Ms Sargeant fundraised almost £150,000 on gofundme.
Lia’s Wings, a UK charity which helps arrange air ambulance transfers for children, also donated £20,000 to the cause and is now helping coordinate the transfer and will oversee Sienna-Rose’s integration back to NHS care.
The charity said this money is set to be used to pay for the £119,000 medical flight home and pay for the medical bills in Mexico.
“When we got the quote, I thought we would have to stay out here for a couple of months until she was fit to fly. I thought we would never get that money together,” Ms Sargeant said.
“It’s crucial we get on that medical flight because if there were any more problems it could put her in danger. I am nervous for the flight because anything could happen,” she added.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British national in hospital in Mexico and are in touch with the local authorities.”
