Yorkshire stroke victim stranded in lockdown Canary Isles
Well-wishers are rallying to help a villager from the Yorkshire Dales who is stranded in the Canary Isles after suffering a massive stroke and a bleed on the brain.
The family and friends of 55-year-old Ben Lord have launched a desperate appeal to raise £20,000 to bring him home as soon as possible from Lanzarote which just like the UK is in lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.
His medical care is being covered by the E111 European Health Insurance Card, but Mr Lord's travel insurers have refused to pay to fly him home in an air ambulance because he failed to tell them that he was prescribed tablets for high blood pressure the week before the holiday.
Mr Lord travelled to the Canary Isles with his wife Lyn, daughter Ellis and some friends on March 7.
But the night before they were due to fly home, he was taken ill and was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with having suffered a stroke and a bleed on the brain.
He has lost the movement of his right arm and leg and his speech is slurred, but doctors say he is stable.
His wife has only been able to visit him twice because of the restrictions on movement in Lanzarote.
His daughter is back home in Gargrave where a family friend John Baker, who is the landlord of the Masons Arms pub, has launched an online appeal to raise the estimated £20,000 for the cost of repatriation.
He said:
Ellis said:
Ben's wife Lyn is still in Lanzarote but has only been able to seem him twice because of the coronavirus lockdown there.
Mr Lord's family, friends and well wishers have now raised more than half the £20,000 they'll need for an air ambulance to bring him home. But they're appealing for more help. You can donate here.