They were on a family holiday when things took a turn for the worse
Gill Taylor-Scarth on holiday in Turkey with two of her grandchildren(Image: Sophie Taylor)
A nan who went on holiday to Turkey while suffering from a brain tumour has been told she needs an operation but the best outcome she can look forward to is total paralysis. Gill Taylor-Scarth’s family have already had a particularly traumatic year before she was struck down while at a hotel in Hisaronu, Turkey.
The family, from Formby, flew to the country on August 15 for a “big family holiday,” which Gill’s husband Kevin Scarth booked. Kevin tragically died in December just a month before Gill, 56, found out she had cancer.
Kevin, 65, had booked the two-week trip to Hisaronu in Turkey for his wife, children, grandchildren and his brothers and sisters-in-law as something to look forward to but tragically died before he could enjoy it with them.
In January Gill went to her doctor after losing her hearing, and found she had a large brain tumour. Trying to make the most of the year the family jetted off to Turkey in June, after getting the green light from doctors for Gill to fly.
Gill’s daughter Sophie Taylor, said: “She was absolutely fine when we went away in June.”
Upon returning home Gill had a “bad turn” and was rushed to Southport Hospital after the tumour on her brain swelled.
The mum-of-three was given steroids to reduce the swelling and was cleared “fit to fly” by hospital staff once again, following scans to check everything was ok.
The family jetted off to Turkey on August 15 to enjoy another two weeks in the sun.
Sophie says her mum paid £700 for insurance to ensure she was fully covered for the trip and surgery to remove the tumour was scheduled for her upon her return to the UK, which was due to be this Friday (August 29).
Sophie said: “My dad booked this big family holiday for us so my mum really wanted to go. She was fine for the first few days, she became off balance after a few days into the holiday and took herself for afternoon naps and was drinking lots of water.
Gill with her three daughters and two grandchildren (Image: Sophie Taylor)
“Then she started complaining of a headache, but she seemed okay. On Saturday [August 23] she was really unwell, she was in the hotel room and couldn’t keep anything down.
“We immediately planned to book a flight home. We started looking at flights back to Liverpool but we spoke to my auntie who suggested she may not be safe to fly so we asked the hotel to ring a doctor to come and see her.”
The doctor came out and immediately told the family Gill needed to go to hospital.
She was transferred to a nearby private hospital, where staff said Gill needed an operation.
Despite having holiday insurance the family decided it was best for Gill to go to a public hospital and she was transferred to Antalya Hospital, three hours from Hisaronu.
Sophie and her older sister, Holly Taylor, 29, both have young children who were with them on the holiday so Rosie, her youngest sister, aged 17, was the only person able to go to the hospital with Gill and is now “having to deal with everything there alone.”
Sophie, 25, said: “It has been a mess. The hospital in Turkey are telling us they need to operate, but nobody speaks English and my 17-year-old sister is having to deal with everything alone because they will only let one of us in the hospital with her.
“We’ve been told there is only a slight chance she will survive the surgery if they do it and the best outcome is that she will be completely paralysed because of where the tumour is. It’s pushing on her brain stem and she is high risk of dying.
“We just want to get her home. I don’t want her to die here [in Turkey].” Sophie says the best outcome for her mum would be to get a Medevac flight back to Liverpool and get her mum to The Walton Centre, who have been treating Gill in the UK.
A medevac flight is an air ambulance service that specialises in rapid and safe medical transport across the world. However, it’s very expensive, costing around £50,000.
Sophie has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money towards the flight, to get Gill back to the UK as soon as possible. You can donate to the GoFundMe page, here.