Premature baby stuck in Cyprus hospital as parents face £45k bill to get her home to Devon
A family from Devon needs to raise £45k in one week to get their premature baby back home.
Bethany and Jan Cleathero's daughter Molly was born 16 weeks early while the family were on holiday in Cyprus.
She is now stable, but is being treated in a hospitals an hour away from the hospital her mum is in.
Bethany is only allowed to visit Molly for an hour a day, which includes time to get medical updates. It means Bethany is left with just 20 minutes a day to bond with her newborn baby.
Bethany’s husband Jan had to fly home with their other two children, so she is currently alone.
She told ITV dealing with the stress of a premature birth is traumatic, especially in a foreign country where language is a barrier and the family have no support network.
Bethany, who lives in Collumpton, was considered fit to fly out on holiday and her family thought their insurance was adequate.
But Molly needs neo-natal hospital treatment and the medical bills of about 1,000 euros (£860) a day are mounting up.
“She’s as stable as she can be, she’s intubated, she’s just tiny, so tiny but so perfect," Bethany told ITV News.
"She has the tiniest fingers and toes and nails, her hand is the size of my thumb nail.
"We called her Molly because to me she just looked like a dolly.
"The hospital bands that they put around your baby is on the smallest setting and it's as baggy as can be."
Mum Bethany Cleathero talks to ITV
She added: “Emotionally we need to get her home, my other two children are really struggling now, they want to know where their mum is, they want to know where their baby sister is.
"They’re eight and three, they cant comprehend the magnitude of what’s actually happening. I want my mum to meet her, we need her home.”
The family have now set up a Crowdfunder to try and get their new baby home.
On the page, Jan said: "We recently spent some time on holiday in Cyprus with our two daughters and unfortunately on our last day my wife gave birth prematurely at six months pregnant.
"Our third daughter is now in the neonatal hospital in Cyprus and my wife is nearby still being taken care of in the general hospital just over an hour away, my wife is still quite poorly and she’s currently fighting off infections and trying to stay strong.
"She’s being discharged and we’re now looking at ways she can be closer to our baby. I’ve had to come back to the UK to bring our two other children home and to try and make sure they're kept unaware of the seriousness of the situation we now face."
He said their insurance does not cover the cost of getting Molly home, saying they are worried about the possibility that their daughter may have to stay in hospital in Cyprus for the next three to four months. With the quotes of her care topping £1,000 a night, they could be looking at a bill of around £100k.
Jan is flying from Bristol Airport to Cyprus today (July 6) to support Bethany and Molly.
He told ITV News the whole experience has been "a lot to take".
"We’re 2,000 miles apart and we can only connect via phone - it’s hard to explain the emotions," he added.
"It’s the generosity of others that has got me out of bed in the morning and driving me and Bethany forward to ensure we will bring Molly home, it’s not a case of if, but when.”
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