A DISTRAUGHT mother has revealed she has been faced with a £22,000 bill to fly her hospital-bound son home from Bulgaria after he was taken ill while on holiday.

Mandy Doyle from Penhill said she was desperate to get her son Michael home to the UK after he underwent six operations in a Bulgarian hospital when he was taken ill with “unbearable” abdominal pains. He is due to undergo a seventh operation today, doctors told the family.

The 29-year-old flew out to the Eastern European country with two other friends on July 24 and was due to return back home on Sunday. But just four days in he was hospitalised after experiencing abdominal pains for around two or three days that gradually got worse.

Having never had such pains before the former Headlands School pupil went to the hotel doctor at his resort in Sunny Beach and was immediately hospitalised at the Life Hospital in Bourgas – around 30km away.

There doctors found him in a “forced position” in bed due to the severe pain coming from his abdomen. Ultrasound scans and x-rays were carried out on him and he has since undergone surgery, with doctors believing he was suffering from Peritonitis totalis.

Despite having travel insurance, Mandy said this would not cover the cost of having him flown home on a medical flight which would see him attended by doctors until his transfer to a UK hospital. This had led her to look at funding a flight herself, only to be faced with a bill of £22,000 for the cheapest flight, though she said many she came across were around £40,000. Michael does also have a European Health Insurance Card, but as he was being treated at a private hospital this was not valid. She praised the efforts of the hospital to keep the family informed and for the care they had given her son, but said she just wanted him home.

“My son is 29, but he is still my baby,” she said. “I feel helpless because I am not there. We were told last Thursday when he went into hospital but we didn’t realise how serious it was. But every day I ring and they say it is critical, the infection of his stomach isn’t clearing. I think if he doesn’t get flown home he will not pull through.

“I just want him home.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said they could not comment on individual cases but directed the family to their website with advice for people being treated in hospitals abroad. The guide states: “We aim to contact you as soon as possible after being told that you have been admitted to hospital to assess how we can help you. We will then aim to provide assistance according to your individual needs. This may include visiting you if you are particularly vulnerable.”