LONDON: The family of a stroke victim, Sahrom Ahmad, 58, is pleading for his insurance company to pay for his trip back to Malaysia as they face mounting medical bills at the Charing Cross Hospital here.
Sahrom, a Tenaga Nasional Bhd retiree from Penang, suffered a stroke a day after arriving in London on Dec 12 to attend his eldest daughter’s graduation ceremony at the University of Loughborough.
Nur ‘Amalina, 28, who graduated with a MSc in International Management, missed out on her graduation day as she waited by her father’s bedside in hospital for her mother, sister and aunts to arrive.
Sahrom, who had traveled alone and had planned to be in the United Kingdom for only a week, bought travel insurance with a RM300,000 cover.
However, following his brain haemorrhage and subsequent operation, the family now faces a hefty £70,000 bill plus the cost of flying Sahrom back to Malaysia with a medical team and accompanying medical equipment.
His wife, Salmah Semail, 56, who flew in to be by his side, the insurance policy states that they would have to pay for the expenses first and claim later.
“We will not have enough even if we put our savings together,” she said when met at the hospital yesterday.
She said according to the insurance policy, the company will only pay for repatriation if the policy holder is the victim of an accident.
“We are negotiating with the insurance company to pay for the repatriation. We will need to pay for the flight with medical equipment and a medical team to accompany my husband,” she said adding that they will appeal for donations to settle the medical bills.
At the moment, after the surgery, there have been some eye movement and Sahrom is undergoing dialysis three times a week. He is still semi-conscious.
Although the doctors had given the green light for Sahrom to be taken home, there is still the matter of how to foot the bill. Sahrom has already been in the hospital for three weeks.
So far, appeals had been made through social media such as Twitter, Facebook and to date, they have only collected about RM12,000 through a network of friends and relatives.
Nur ‘Amalina, recalling the day she fetched her father at the airport, said he looked normal although a little tired. They checked in at a hotel near the airport. It was the next day that her father had severe headaches and Amalina immediately called an ambulance to take him to the hospital.
It was while at the hospital that he had a stroke and had to be moved to Charing Cross Hospital for immediate surgery.
Salmah said they had initially wanted to fly back for treatment but was advised that he needed immediate surgery, which was performed on Dec 13.
Salmah, also a TNB retiree, was accompanied by her daughter Nurul Aisyah, 24, her sister Rosni Semail and cousin Norehan Desa.
Students and members of the Bunga Raya Club visited the hospital to check on Sahrom’s welfare. Members of the Malaysian community and the Malaysian High Commission in London also paid a visit.
Salmah and her family are appealing to the generosity of Malaysians to donate and help pay for Sahrom’s medical bills.
Payment can be made to Nur Amalina Sahrom’s Maybank account at 1622 6338 6874.
(Eds - Due to some technical issues faced by the above account, the family will be contacting the bank to resolve the matter. For the time being, those who wish to contribute can do so via the wife’s Bank Islam account number: 07016020007585 - Salmah binti Ismail)