DOMINICAN REPUBLIC — A Georgia grandmother has been stuck in a Dominican Republic hospital on life support.
Loretta Cox, 54, and her husband took a Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas on Sunday.
Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco was in LaGrange Thursday, where Cox and her husband left Saturday and caught a cruise ship in Florida on Sunday. The mother of six, who also has nine grandchildren, decided to take some time off for a cruise to the Bahamas.
By Tuesday, her lungs had filled with fluid and she was so sick she had to be placed on a ventilator.
“She didn’t even make it to her room,” her daughter, Aldes Brooks said. “She collapsed and two teenagers helped her and called a medic. They had to put her on the ventilator on the boat.”
On Wednesday morning, the ship docked and dropped her off at a hospital in the Dominican Republic.
She was stuck there for days. After Francisco’s story aired during Channel 2 Action News at 6 p.m., the family said they were able to raise $18,000 and were able to get Cox on a medical flight that will land in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday night.
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Her family said they paid nearly $28,000 to transport her via ambulance to the hospital and then get her into a room in the Intensive Care Unit.
But her family said doctors there cannot treat Cox because they don’t take her insurance and without it, staying in that hospital costs $4,000 a day.
“Everything is $10,000, $15,000, $24,000,” Brooks said.
Doctors said that they can keep Cox stable, but Cox needs to get a special medical flight back to the U.S. for treatment.
A company called AirEvac International sent a quote saying the flight will cost more than $23,000 upfront.
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Loved ones and strangers donated $14,000 overnight.
“She’s everything to us,” Brooks said. “We’re not prepared for a loss like this. Not now.”
If you want to help, you can Zelle a donation to her daughter’s number: 706-616-0147, or you can send a donation through Cash App to cashtag: $AldesBrooks
Traditional crowdfunding websites can take several days to turn the cash around to families. In this case, the family must use other means to get the money fast to provide to the medical flight company upfront.
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