The family of a teenager who is currently placed in a coma in Spain are “begging for a miracle” as they face the “crippling” costs of her medical care and transportation back to Scotland.
Bryony Duthie, 18, was put into an induced coma at a private hospital in Benalmadena on Sunday.
Her condition revived slightly before she suffered a second seizure and was again placed in a coma on Wednesday and remains on life support.
Family members in Dundee say they are “heartbroken” and “worried sick” as the days pass and her medical bills, which roughly stand at £3,000 a day, are mounting.
Doctors say her condition has “worsened” with tests indicating she may have suffered brain damage and kidney failure however, the family have been quoted £33,000 for an air ambulance to bring her back to Scotland.
Costs are now amounting to over £60,000 in total.
Bryony suffers from a rare genetic condition and renal tubular acidosis, which occurs when the kidneys do not remove acids from the blood, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Her family have described her as a “miracle” who has suffered a series of debilitating conditions and side effects in the past.
The teen had been on a holiday on the Costa Del Sol in the Andalusia region of Spain when her health suddenly declined.
She was struggling to walk before her condition deteriorated further and she was rushed to hospital where she remains with her mum, grandparents and boyfriend by her side.
Meanwhile a fundraising campaign is being led by her determined family back in Dundee in a bid to ensure the burden of her medical bills and transportation home are not an obstacle.
Her mother, Stephanie Duthie, 37, said: “They said her blood was really erratic.
“Her sodium levels were really high and her potassium levels were really low, and that is something that goes along with Bryony’s condition.”
When Bryony started making a “cackling” sound while breathing, doctors decided to carry out a body scan, which revealed the real cause of the illness.
“When the body scan came back they’ve seen something on her lung which turned out to be pneumonia,” Ms Duthie said.
This meant that Bryony’s blood medication was not working.
“The next minute she starts having a seizure and the medical staff took me out of the ward and I had to just sit there and wait,” said Ms Duthie.
“Obviously, some of them speak great English, but (with) some of them it’s quite difficult, so I’m using Google translate to try and establish what’s going on.”
It was then that doctors took the decision to place her in a coma decided to give Bryony dialysis in a bid to stabilise her blood levels and contain the infection
Despite believing they were covered by their insurance policy, the family discovered it would not apply and they face tens of thousands worth of bills.
Brooke Coventry, Bryony’s aunt back in Dundee, has started a GoFundMe page in the fight to raise approximately £60,000 for her care and travel.
She told STV News: “Bryony is fighting for her life and has been in intensive care coma since Sunday, she has two injuries to her brain, two seizures and the blood in kidneys is turning toxic.
“She needs to be on dialysis, she has pneumonia in her lungs and is on the strongest antibiotics available.
“We are desperate and have been recommended by the doctors in Benalmadena to bring Bryony home via helicopter air Ambulance to prevent further costs.”
She added: “Due to her condition, Bryony has been a miracle her whole life, but now we need her biggest miracle yet.
“It’s such a heart breaking time for her family and they should not have to worry about the costs on top of this.”
Writing on the Go Fund Me page on Thursday, Ms Coventry said: “We need our baby girl home to continue her critical care journey in ICU.
“We reach out to every person possible to please help us keep our girl safe from crippling costs impacting Bryony’s care and breaking our family’s hearts more. Bryony needs every penny and chance to get better.”
By Friday morning, members of the public have already donated more than £41,000 to the GoFundMe appeal which can be found here.
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