A mother is fighting for her life in hospital after she fainted from a mosquito bite and fell down a staircase on holiday.
Emma Hickey was enjoying a getaway with her partner and two children, seven and 13, on the Costa Adeje in Tenerife when the bug bites began.
She had been prescribed injections by a hospital for her ‘really bad case’ and was attempting to brave her illness for the rest of the holiday when she collapsed and fell headfirst on a hotel step.
After a CT scan showed she had a brain bleed and neck fractures, Emma, 42, was placed in an induced coma.
Her partner, Stephen Brougham, 44, said: ‘We came away for a lovely family holiday and it’s been a living nightmare.
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‘She woke up with a really bad case of mosquito bites, so we went to the local doctor and the doctor didn’t know what it was, so they sent her to hospital.
‘For the next few days, she wasn’t feeling well but was soldiering through the holiday for the sake of the kids trying to do what she could, but she wasn’t herself.’
He continued: ‘She passed out on the steps and started convulsing, she was in a terrible state.
‘It’s been horrific because I actually witnessed the fall and how bad the fall was. That’s a mental scar that I’ll never forget. Words can’t describe how bad it is.’
Emma remains in the coma and Stephen says it could be a ‘very long time’ before she is fit enough to return home.
The family is also facing a sizeable medical bill of around £1,000 a day as well as hotel costs for their extended stay in the Canary Islands.
Stephen said he hoped his travel insurance would help cover the costs but that his company was making him ‘jump a few hoops’ before committing to help.
He urged holidaymakers to take out insurance before going abroad.
He said: ‘It’s not something we ever considered how bad a bite could be. It’s amazing how much pain a little tiny insect can have on you.
‘We wouldn’t have considered [repellent]. We weren’t aware of the mosquito bites.
‘We go away all the time and it’s not something to be worried about. You definitely need to be aware what sort of effect these insects can have on you.’
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