Mom in coma after contracting meningitis on Spain vacation

By Elizabeth Hunter

A mom has awoken from a coma in hospital in Spain after contracting meningitis on vacation.

Jade Bird, 33, was due to fly home from Tenerife last Wednesday, but fell critically ill while at the airport.

She was rushed to hospital, where doctors found an infection in her brain that had developed into meningitis.

Jade, a carer from Abergele, was placed in an induced coma, as her devoted family rushed to her side.

Her sister-in-law Victoria flew to Spain to be by her side, while the family waited for more news.

She said: "She flew out to Tenerife with her boyfriend for a holiday.

"While they were there, she was complaining of earache, then she started being sick.

"When they got to the airport, she was unable to communicate and she was screaming in pain, so they took her to the hospital.

"When they got there, they did a CT scan and found she had an infection on her brain, so they transferred her to an ICU in the north of Tenerife, put her on a ventilator, and she's been there ever since.

"They then found out that it's turned into meningitis, and she's been quite heavily sedated the last two or three days.

"There was concern of seizures and epilepsy, memory loss, paralysis - we still don't know the full extent of all this right now, until she wakes up completely."

Thankfully, after around a week in an induced coma, Jade has begun to come around, with family describing her as "much more alert and aware of her surroundings."

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But Jade, who has a young daughter named Skyla, remains in hospital - and despite having appropriate insurance, her family were quoted £46,000 for a medical evacuation back home.

She will be moved to a neurological ward, where she will have a full assessment, with staff believing she will need to stay on IV antibiotics before she is able to travel home.

"Myself and her mom flew out the following morning after we found out," said Victoria.

"At some point, me and her mom are going to get to a stage where we can't afford to stay here, but how do we go home?

"The communication just isn't there - there's a language barrier and we only get updates once a day.

"It's not something we can even comprehend right now."

The family have launched a GoFundMe to cover the cost of Jade's flight home, which has raised £12,000 so far.

"It's been really stressful," said Victoria.

"It's been absolutely heartbreaking telling her daughter that she's unable to see mommy because she's in the hospital.

"We struggle every day and we just hope every day when we walk in to see her that she's a bit more alert."

The family have "a long road ahead," but are thankful for the kindness of the public, and say they are prepared to do what it takes to get Jade back home safely.

"We're overwhelmed with all the kindness.

"People have been so thoughtful and everybody has pulled together to raise money to get Jade home and we don't think that any words will ever thank them enough."