Jade Bird has been diagnosed with meningitis (Image: Joanne McIver / SWNS)
A British mother has woken from a coma after contracting meningitis on holiday. Jade Bird, 33, caught the infection in Tenerife, Spain, before falling critically ill at the airport.
She was due to fly home last Wednesday (March 18) but was instead rushed to hospital and placed in an induced coma. Doctors found that Jade, a carer from Abergale in north Wales, had an infection in her brain and diagnosed her with meningitis. She had been complaining of earache during the holiday before becoming unwell. Her family have now set up a fundraiser to cover the unexpected costs, including their accomodation and travel expenses while they stay by her side.
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Jade’s sister-in-law Victoria, who has flown to Spain to be with her, said: « She flew out to Tenerife with her boyfriend for a holiday. While they were there, she was complaining of earache, then she started being sick.
« When they got to the airport, she was unable to communicate and she was screaming in pain, so they took her to the hospital. When they got there, they did a CT scan and found she had an infection on her brain, so they transferred her to an ICU in the north of Tenerife, put her on a ventilator, and she’s been there ever since.
« They then found out that it’s turned into meningitis, and she’s been quite heavily sedated the last two or three days. There was concern of seizures and epilepsy, memory loss, paralysis – we still don’t know the full extent of all this right now, until she wakes up completely. »
Jade fell unwell at the airport (Image: Joanne McIver / SWNS)
Jade, who has a young daughter called Skyla, has started to come around but remains in hospital. Despite having appropriate insurance, her family have been quoted a whopping £46,000 to get her back home.
Victoria added: « Myself and her mum flew out the following morning after we found out. At some point, me and her mum are going to get to a stage where we can’t afford to stay here, but how do we go home?
« The communication just isn’t there – there’s a language barrier and we only get updates once a day. It’s not something we can even comprehend right now. »
Jade and her daughter Skyla (Image: Joanne McIver / SWNS)
A ‘long road ahead’
Jade’s family has raised around £14,000 on GoFundMe so far. They are thankful for the public’s support so far but acknowledge they have a « long road ahead ».
Victoria said: « It’s been really stressful. It’s been absolutely heartbreaking telling her daughter that she’s unable to see mummy because she’s in the hospital. We struggle every day and we just hope every day when we walk in to see her that she’s a bit more alert. »
She continued: « We’re overwhelmed with all the kindness. People have been so thoughtful and everybody has pulled together to raise money to get Jade home and we don’t think that any words will ever thank them enough. »
To donate to the GoFundMe page, click here.
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