A British man has died of septicaemia in Bulgaria because his travel insurance did not cover him to fly home for treatment.
Michael Doyle, 29, was hospitalised with stomach pains and underwent six operations in a bid to save his life.
His travel insurance did not cover medical repatriations and his mother Mandy, 51, set up a JustGiving campaign to raise £22,000 needed to fly him home.
But Michael could not survive long enough and died yesterday when his kidneys failed following a dialysis session.
Mandy had managed to scrape together enough to fly out to his hospital bedside before he passed away.
His friend Vince Conti, 47, who has been with him since he fell ill three weeks ago, said: ‘His organs gave up. I believed he would be alright.
‘Up until two days ago he was settled, he was in a critical condition and kept going hot and cold but he was settled and talking and had colour in his cheeks.
‘But last night we got to a call to come up and we knew he wasn’t good. When I saw him we went in and we knew, it was like a concrete block had been thrown in my face.
‘He had the dialysis last night and his kidneys just shut down. They spent 35 minutes trying to bring him back.
‘His mum and dad are completely devastated. Even the doctor was crying.’
Shop worker Michael, of Penhill, Swindon, flew out to the Sunny Beach resort with two friends on July 24.
But he was hospitalised just four days into the break with unbearable stomach pains.
Mandy did not have the money to fly out straight away and only managed to get to his bedside last Wednesday after taking out a £390 loan.
Before his death, Mandy spoke of her fears that he would die if he was not flown back to the UK.
‘I felt helpless because I wasn’t there,’ she said.’I saw him for the first time on Wednesday, he was breathless and in and out of sleep.
‘I don’t think his body can take much more, I worry that if he doesn’t get flown home he will not pull through.
‘The insurance are refusing to pay and won’t talk to us, and medical flights cost between £22,000 and £40,000.’
Vince, a property developer from Gorse Hill in Swindon, said: ‘Michael’s stomach was swelling so we just thought he had food poisoning.
‘One minute we were at the walk-in centre, the next we were speeding down the motorway and Michael was off to theatre.
‘I took him into the hospital and stayed by his side and was always checking the monitors and speaking to him. It’s been a three week roller-coaster.
‘He lived life to the full. He knew right from wrong and would do anything for anyone.
‘He was a good lad and a credit to his mum and dad.’
The £3,200 raised on the JustGiving page so far will now be used to repatriate Michael’s body.
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