Family face £40,000 bill after dying mum stranded in Fuerteventura for final holiday

A dying mother from the West Midlands is currently stuck in a Spanish hospital after flying to Fuerteventura for a final holiday. Lavelle Crutchley from Staffordshire has end-stage liver failure and traveled to the Canary Islands with her two sons and brother.

StokeonTrentLive reported that Lavelle took a turn for the worse and ended up in hospital. Her family were told she had a £40,000 bill to fly her home by helicopter. She has been on the island for three weeks and is receiving end-of-life care.

A GoFundMe page has been launched by her mother Julie Hankey to raise funds. Fundraising currently stands at £1,995.

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Julie told StokeonTrentLive: “We are doing everything we can to raise the £40,000 to bring Lavelle home to her family. We are limited in time and still need to raise around £16,000 of the cost.

“Family members, as well as my and Lavelle’s son’s employers, were very generous and donated a lot of money to help us. Her two teenage sons and I have booked a flight to visit her next Tuesday as she has to say goodbye. .

“If they don’t get the money to take her home then she will die there and we don’t want her to die alone in another country. We are very emotional at the moment.”

She added: “It’s difficult to speak to the hospital because it’s a different language, however the British consul and the social worker who sees Lavelle have been brilliant. But on the medical side, he doesn’t have much to live for. Still, she’s fighting for her life out there.”

Julie added an update today (May 15) to the fundraising page saying: “Thank you to everyone who has kindly donated, we are still a long way off and need any support, the smallest amount will help. The people were so kind. and I will be eternally grateful for donations. Time is of the essence for us please if you can’t donate share our link Lavelle is keeping her spirits up at the moment but she is a young mum who wants to come. home to her family. Thank you all very much.”

To make a donation to bring Lavelle home, visit the GoFundMe page here.

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