Pittsburgh family feels stuck in Northern Ireland over delayed surgery
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A local family is going through one of those nightmares that could happen to anyone who takes a trip.
As KDKA-TV's Jon Delano explains, it's particularly difficult when you can't get the medical help you need when you want it.
Toni Draksler of Homer City and her extended family were really looking forward to their trip to Ireland, including Northern Ireland, but they never expected to end up at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
"While we were on a family vacation, my mom fell and unexpectedly broke her hip in a small café. She was taken by ambulance to this hospital," says Draksler. "That was on Monday, and she is still waiting to have a hip replacement surgery."
Draksler says her mother – Anne Silbaugh – keeps having her surgery postponed, and she's frustrated that Britain's National Health Service won't commit to a date.
"It has something to do with their health care system," Draksler said. "You kind of go into a list, but as emergencies come in, they'll knock you back down the list.
"So they've been having my mom fast every evening and then they'll say not today. And you know she's in a lot of pain."
With no promise of surgery next week in Belfast, Draksler contacted UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh, which promised to take care of the 74-year-old quickly if she got home.
"People at UPMC Mercy have been amazing," she says.
But flying a patient with a broken hip home on a private medical transport plane is not cheap. It's requiring the family to pool their credit cards.
"We are putting up credit cards to cover the cost," Draksler said. "It is a little bit over $78,000."
Silbaugh's insurance covers emergencies overseas, but Draksler said it refused to cover this transport because the patient is not "coding" or dying.
"We'll just pay as we go once we get home," Draksler said. "We'll figure it out."
Draksler and her father will accompany her mother on the private transport from Belfast to Pittsburgh, and they hope to get home this weekend when her mother will be transported to UPMC Mercy.