Tourist from Britain loses life during vacation, leaving family confronting an outstanding £59,000 fees due to failure to disclose a condition deemed inconsequential by a doctor
Alan Kirkby, a 67-year-old man from Marston Magna, Somerset, tragically passed away on a family holiday in Zante, Greece. The news of his death was shared on a GoFundMe page by his devastated family.
On July 5, three days into their holiday, Alan fell ill. He experienced an aching pain all down his side during dinner, which he thought was from playing with his stepdaughter's children in the sea. The next morning, he woke up breathless and went to a local medical clinic.
Doctors in Zante diagnosed a mass in Alan's lung, initially advising him not to worry about it. However, as his condition worsened, he was airlifted by helicopter to a private hospital in Athens because he was too sick to fly commercially. There, doctors placed him on a non-invasive ventilator.
Unfortunately, Alan's condition deteriorated before they could leave. His oxygen levels dropped to 36%, and he began to fit in his hospital bed. Despite the best efforts of the medical team, Alan never woke up from the coma and tragically passed away.
The insurance company responsible for Alan during his hospital stay in Greece, which did not provide coverage, was Allianz. The cause of death was septic shock, a life-threatening condition that causes blood pressure to drop.
The family of Alan has been stung with a £59,000 hospital bill after his insurance cover was invalidated due to an undeclared pre-existing medical condition. The lung mass was initially deemed to be a benign fatty tissue by British doctors, but it was later discovered that Alan was aware of the lung mass, detected in December 2024.
The money raised through the GoFundMe page will now go towards Alan's cremation. It is a tragic reminder of the importance of disclosing pre-existing medical conditions when travelling abroad and the potential financial burden this can impose on families during an already difficult time.
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