Mum in Critical Condition After Fall in Tenerife Hotel

A mum is fighting for life after a fall down hotel stairs during a family holiday in Tenerife. Emma Hickey, her partner Stephen Brougham and their two children travelled to Costa Adeje for a 12-day break starting on June 13. But ten days into their holiday Emma sought hospital treatment after waking with severe mosquito bites.

Despite feeling under the weather, the 42-year-old carer was determined to make the most of the holiday for her family's sake.

On June 23 as the family walked down the hotel stairs to visit a chemist, Emma felt dizzy and collapsed, tumbling head-first onto the concrete. Her partner Stephen, 44, described the scene as 'horrific', witnessing Emma convulse on the steps before she was taken to hospital.

Medical scans showed Emma had suffered a brain haemorrhage and neck fractures, leading to her being placed in a medically induced coma. Now a family friend has set up a GoFundMe to help Stephen and his children, who are now stuck in Tenerife awaiting Emma's recovery.

Stephen, a plasterer from Dublin, said the family do not know when Emma might be fit to travel home or if their travel insurance will cover the escalating medical expenses. He said: 'We came away for a lovely family holiday and it's been a living nightmare', reports Bristol Live.

'She woke up with a really bad mosquito bites so we went to the local doctor and the doctors didn't know what it was so they sent her to hospital.

Emma woke up to find she was covered in mosquito bites. 'The doctor there said they'd never seen a case of this mosquito bite in Spain before. She got a prescription and sent her away. For the next few days she wasn't feeling well but was soldiering through the holiday for the sake of the kids trying to do what she could but she wasn't herself.

'On the 23rd she woke up and felt really bad. She said 'I'll go to sleep and see how I feel later on'. She went for a sleep and I brought the kids out for lunch.

'She was up having a good sleep and she looked and seemed a lot better. She said she wouldn't go to the hospital but would walk out to a pharmacy and see what they thought. We walked out the back entrance of the hotel as there's a shop and a pharmacy there. Street level is probably about four or five storeys up.

'She was feeling a bit dizzy and she collapsed and fell from the second last step of the upper staircase down below onto the other set of stairs head-first without raising her arm to protect herself.

'She passed out on the steps and started convulsing - she was in a terrible state. It's been horrific because I actually witnessed the fall and how bad the fall was. That's a mental scar that I'll never forget. Words can't describe how bad it is.'

Stephen called an ambulance and Emma was taken to hospital where a CT scan revealed a brain haemorrhage that needed surgery. The medical team also found fractures in her neck, after which she was placed into an induced coma and remains in intensive care.

Stephen continued: 'They did an operation and there were blood clots on the brain that had been putting some pressure on the brain. They're not saying what impact the pressure on the brain of the blood clot will have after she comes round.

Stephen is looking for somewhere to live temporarily in Tenerife with his children while Emma remains in hospital.

'There could be secondary issues there so in the meantime she's just been on the machine.'

Now self-employed Stephen is looking for somewhere for himself and his children, Sophie, 13, and Bobby, seven, to live while they wait for news on Emma's recovery. He's counting on their travel insurance to assist with the escalating healthcare expenses once they've gone over her medical history.

Stephen said: 'We have got health insurance but at the moment they're making us jump a few hoops just before they commit to whether they're covering us or not. We know that hospital is $1,400 a day so we're going to have a significant medical bill.

'The hotel we're staying in at the moment is an expensive hotel. Then just feeding the kids and keeping them occupied. I'm not working now because I'm over here. The support has been overwhelming and incredible. We're lucky to have friends and family like that.

'The fundraiser is very important because it's going to be a long process. We don't know how long yet. It could be a very long time that we're over here with her until she's in a position to fly home. We need to be over here by her side and we don't want to go anywhere without her.'

He's now urging fellow travellers to secure comprehensive travel insurance and remain vigilant about the risks posed by insects when holidaying overseas.

He said: 'It's not something we ever considered - how bad a bite could be. It's amazing how much pain a little tiny insect can have on you. We wouldn't have considered repellent. We weren't aware of the mosquito bites.

'We go away all the time and it's not something to be worried about. You definitely need to be aware what sort of effect these insects can have on you. It's important to have travel insurance. The hospital won't do much if you haven't got it. Try to get a good policy.'

According to the source: Liverpool Echo.