British grandmother collapses with aneurysm on holiday flight – and is now in a coma in Croatia after forgetting to declare medicines to insurers

A grandmother suffered a brain aneurysm during a family holiday which her family fear was caused by the pressure in the plane cabin, leaving her in a coma thousands of miles from home.

Barbara Wilkinson was on board the flight from East Midlands Airport to Corfu on October 14 with her 13-year-old granddaughter Tamara Wilkinson and a close friend.

But after embarking on a three-hour plane journey, the 68-year-old reportedly started coughing and then fell into a ‘comatose’ state.

The former singer and entertainer was then placed in the recovery position in the aisle area and the pilot made an emergency landing in Croatia so Barbara could be rushed to hospital.

It was initially suspected that Barbara had suffered a stroke, but following a CT scan at Zadar General Hospital it was confirmed that she had suffered a ‘life-threatening’ brain aneurysm.

She was then transferred to University Hospital Zagreb for emergency surgery and remains in a coma there as her insurance will not cover the cost of flying back to Britain.

Destiny Jordan, Barbara’s granddaughter, was at work when she heard about her grandmother’s condition and said she feared her grandmother was going to die.

The customer service advisor has now set up a GoFundMe page to try to raise the £35,000 needed to get grandma home safely and continue her recovery in Britain.

Destiny, from Aspley, Nottingham, said: ‘She had a flight in the morning and arrived at the airport fine and was with my sister and one of her good friends.

“She got on the flight fine and then just took a nap on the plane.

“(At one point during the flight) my sister gave her a candy and she started coughing.

‘At first they thought she had choked on a piece of candy. When my sister looked at her, she coughed with her eyes open and they got a little worried.

‘She then fell asleep again and then woke up and started coughing again with her eyes open.

‘She fell asleep again for the third time, but then my sister tried to wake her up, but she wouldn’t wake up.

‘At first they thought it was a stroke. The flight attendant must have spoken to the pilot and at that point they informed everyone that the plane was going to make an emergency landing in Croatia.

‘When they landed, she was immediately taken to hospital by ambulance.

‘As soon as she got to the hospital, she fell into a coma herself, but they gave her medication to keep her in a coma.

‘They did a CT scan of the head and confirmed she had a brain aneurysm.

“They found out it was a ruptured aneurysm, and it was a serious aneurysm that was considered life-threatening.

‘She then required emergency surgery and was transferred to another hospital. This operation was intended to (treat) the bleeding.

‘I was at work when I heard about my grandmother. I had a panic attack and was immediately in tears. I just wanted my grandma to come home and I was afraid she was going to die.

“They (doctors) haven’t told us why it happened, we just assume it was an aneurysm that was already there and the cabin pressure caused this rupture.”

According to the NHS, an aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel, caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall, usually where it branches.

As blood flows through the weakened blood vessel, blood pressure causes a small area to bulge outward like a balloon.

An aneurysm can develop in any blood vessel in the body, but the two most common places are the artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body and the brain.

After undergoing emergency surgery, they attempted to bring Barbara out of her coma, which was initially successful.

But after she struggled to breathe on her own, doctors had to perform a tracheostomy and put her back under anesthesia.

Barbara has now been in the hospital for over two weeks and is still in a coma.

Destiny said her grandmother’s insurance won’t pay to fly her home to Britain because she “forgot” to declare all the medications she was taking.

When Barbara wakes up, she says that her grandmother may be severely disabled from the ruptured aneurysm and will require 24-hour care.

Destiny said: ‘It was devastating when we found out we had to try to get her home alone.

“(Her insurance won’t cover her), all because she forgot to list a few medications on her form.

‘They told me she may be severely disabled and require 24-hour care.

‘This is really scary and I know she wouldn’t want to live like this.

‘She is a very social person and loves to go out and be with her friends.

“If this is the case, this would be really heartbreaking because this is not how she wants to live her life. She likes to go on holiday

‘It would mean the absolute world to have her home for the whole family.

“She means the world to us and she is the most amazing grandmother in the world and raised me.”