Coma patient’s family pay £33,000 to fly her home from Spainon July 22, 2023 at 2:34 pm

The family of a teenager put in a coma after developing pneumonia while on holiday in Spain have booked a £33,000 medical flight to bring her home.

Bryony Duthie, who suffers from a rare chronic kidney condition, fell ill on 16 July on the Costa Del Sol.

The 18-year-old stirred from her coma on Friday but slipped back into unconsciousness.

Doctors at Vithas Xanit International Hospital Benalmadena have so far been unable to remove her from life support.

Her family hope she can be flown from Malaga to Dundee on Thursday on an IAS Medical plane.

It will be equipped like an intensive care unit to keep her alive during the journey.

Her mother, Stephanie Duthie, 37, from Dundee, said: “I’m just in a million pieces. We just need to get her home.

“The hospital have told us that they want her to be ventilated when she flies.

“We found a flight company who are willing to fly her home for £33,000 but it’s not until next Thursday.”

Ms Duthie, who recently completed a degree in social work, said the pilot plans to fly to Dundee, their nearest airport, provided there is no rain.

If not, a longer runway at Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow will be used, although this would complicate the journey.

The family is also facing a second estimated medical bill of 27,000 euro (£23,400) for another nine days of private healthcare in Spain after already being charged more than £13,000 for her first two nights in hospital and initial treatment.

They have set up a fundraising page which has surpassed £50,000.

The Duthie family thought Bryony, who lost her father when she was three, had become ill because of her chronic kidney problems.

But a CT scan later revealed she had pneumonia.

While doctors have been trying to cautiously bring her out of the coma, they fear she could suffer another seizure at any time.

Ms Duthie added: “She’s starting to wake up but when I say that, I mean she’s opening her eyes, she’s not compos mentis.

“She can’t follow commands, like squeeze my finger or anything like that.

“They have now put her back into a coma. It’s really horrible to watch.”

Ms Duthie is also concerned that her daughter will have to be moved to a state hospital in Spain if she cannot be flown home because the family cannot afford to keep her in private care.

She said: “I’m scared to move her now but it’s three grand a day just to be there.

“Her condition, renal tubular acidosis, is so rare and unique that it’s taken them so long to get her stable.

“We just need to get her home.”

Ms Duthie thanked the public for their generosity and kind wishes.

She added: “From the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you to everybody who has sent anything, from a penny to £100, to those who have shared, who have retweeted.

“We are forever indebted to these people who have donated, we could never say thank you enough.”