A BRITISH grandad is on life support in Greece with a £14,000 medical bill after an insurance mix-up over a lung mass his GP told him “not to worry about”.
Alan Kirby, 67, from Somerset, is now on a ventilator and stuck abroad with no cover for a £45,000 flight home because he didn’t declare a condition previously dismissed as harmless.
His stepdaughter Liza Whitemore, 40, said: “There’s a talk about him going into a coma, but we don’t know if it’s cancer or pneumonia doing the damage.
“He’s fine, then he’s not, he’s fine then he’s not. He’s really breathless, on the phone he can’t say more than a few sentences. We’re just desperate to get him home.”
Alan, a car valeter from Marston Magna, had been three days into a family holiday in Zante with his partner Helen Whitemore, 62, Liza and her three daughters when he fell ill on July 5.
He had an aching pain all down his side during dinner, which he thought was from throwing his stepdaughter’s children around in the sea.
The next morning he woke up breathless and went to a local medical clinic.
After tests, doctors advised he return to the UK for a biopsy on a mass spotted in his right lung.
But before they could leave, Alan deteriorated. His oxygen levels dropped to 36 per cent and he began fitting in his hospital bed.
Doctors placed him on a non-invasive ventilato and have warned he may need to be put in a coma , but feared he wouldn’t wake up due to his fragile lungs.
Liza said: “He looked dreadful, grey and pale. Everyone was petrified. Nobody knew what was going on.”
Alan was airlifted by helicopter to a private hospital in Athens because he was too sick to fly commercially.
But days later, the insurance company told the family they had checked Alan’s UK medical records and discovered the lung mass had been noted by doctors back in December 2024, though they believed it was benign fatty tissue.
That made it a “pre-existing condition”, something the family hadn’t declared, because they thought it was harmless.
Liza said: “We know we’ve made the mistake, that’s the problem.
“My mum had gone into the bank that she had insurance with and they said, ‘just go on holiday, you don’t have to do anything’.
“They didn’t know about the mass. And he was well before, he was working as a car valeter the day before the holiday.”
The insurance company agreed to cover the first five days of care in the Athens private hospital, racking up a £14,000 bill, before refusing further support.
Alan has since been moved to a general hospital where treatment covered by his Global Health Insurance Card.
This is a free UK card that lets travellers access state healthcare in EU countries on the same terms as locals.
But it doesn’t cover private hospitals or the cost of getting home, such as an air ambulance.
He remains on a ventilator battling pneumonia , and doctors still don’t know if the lung mass is cancerous.
His family have returned to Somerset and are now desperately raising £22,000 on GoFundMe to help cover a medical flight to bring him home.
Do I need health insurance to travel?
Yes. Travel insurance is essential, even within Europe. It can cover unexpected medical bills, cancellations, lost luggage and other emergencies.
Your GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card) lets you access state healthcare in EU countries, but it does not cover private treatment or medical repatriation, such as an air ambulance back to the UK.
Failing to declare any pre-existing medical conditions can invalidate your policy, leaving you liable for all costs.
Always check the small print before you travel.
Source: UK Government and NHS
