Mother's plea after £48k demand to fly son's body home

Elaine Huxley’s son Adrian King, originally from Stafford, died while on holiday in Cairo when his kidneys are believed to have failed and he fell into a coma.

The 39-year-old flew to Cairo with a friend on May 9, but fell ill while on a safari trip less than two weeks later.

His mother, who still lives in Stafford, was first told by doctors that her son had been in a coma at the El Gouna Hospital for four days on May 25.

Five days later she claims that the hospital turned off his life support without warning and he died in the early hours of the morning. This is despite claims that Mr King was ‘coming around’ after the dialysis appeared to be working.

Now she says the hospital are demanding £48,000 to release her son’s body after there was an issue with the way he filled out his insurance form.

Mrs Huxley, aged 57, was told to pay the money by the hospital to transport him back – but says she has since been informed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the hospital cannot not legally do this.

However, she is still appealing for £10,000 to pay for the morgue storage and fees to transport her son’s body back home – as the Government can’t help her financially.

Mrs Huxley fears she won’t be able to bury her son’s body in Britain and will have to go to Egypt to say her goodbyes.

She said: “It’s such a mixture of emotions. I’m obviously upset but really angry at the hospital. The fact that doctors in this day and age can actually do this to somebody. Its unbelievable.

“I feel hopeless, not that I can do anything if he comes back – I can’t bring him back to life but the thought of him over there in a strange place on his own even though he’s dead is awful.

"We just want to know that he’s back and here is the main priority. We have talked about a funeral in Egypt but I can’t do that. I do not want to leave him there.”

She said: “He flew out on May 9, he went the day before me. I went to Spain. I texted him on the night wishing him a happy holiday and he said the same to me and off we went.

“His kidneys were failing so was put on dialysis, however, he didn’t fill out insurance forms correctly so the claim was void.

“When the hospital learnt his insurance would not cover cost of treatment they turned machine off and withheld any further treatment therefore he died.

“We received a phone call from the British embassy in Egypt saying he had died. They said the hospital wanted the bill paying which was £48,000, but we haven’t got that sort of money.

“Since then the Foreign Office explained to us that they can’t legally hold his body.

“But we still have to pay storage fees for keeping him in the morgue.

“We’ve set up a fundraising page and put a target of £10,000 – we’ve got to pay storage fees and pay to get his body back whatever that entails.”

Mr King lived in Stoke-on-Trent and was visiting Egypt with a friend.

His mother has managed to raise a total of £3,150 so far – but more is needed to ensure he makes it home. Before his trip to Cairo, Mr King was in hospital for earlier this year – which his mother claims he didn’t put on the form.

She is urging people to check their holiday insurance forms due to its ‘importance’.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We have been in close contact with Mr King’s family since his death, and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

“We are advising them on their options and liaising with the Egyptian authorities on their behalf.”

The El Gouna Hospital was unavailable for comment.

The fundraising page can be found by visiting www.gofundme.com/bring-home-my-sons-body