- Emma Hickey was on a family vacation in the Spanish Canary Islands when she woke up covered in mosquito bites, which her partner, Stephen Brougham, said “were draining the life out of her”
- She was treated with injections at a local hospital, but shortly afterwards collapsed and fell down a flight of stairs, hitting her head
- She remains in a medically induced coma with a fractured neck, and had to undergo surgery for blood clots on her brain
A mom collapsed and fell down a flight of stairs — all because she was light-headed from a horrific case of mosquito bites.
Emma Hickey, 42, embarked on a tropical getaway to Tenerife on the Spanish Canary Islands in mid-June for a family vacation with her partner, Stephen Brougham, and their two children, Sophie, 13, and Bobby, 7. With just two days left in the trip, the mom woke up covered in mosquito bites.
Stephen, who hails from Dublin, said Emma sought medical care and was prescribed an injection to handle the pain from the bites. “They were draining the life out of her and they’re all over her body, dozens and dozens. They looked uncomfortable and you could see that they were sore. They turned into bruises,” he said, according to Daily Mail.
However, Stephen said she “tried to soldier through the holiday just for the sake of the kids.”
But a combination of the medication, the pain from the bites, and the heat caught up with Emma, he says: “She was feeling a bit dizzy and she collapsed and fell from the second last step of the upper staircase down below onto the other set of stairs head-first without raising her arm to protect herself.”
That’s when, he says, “she passed out on the steps and started convulsing, she was in a terrible state. It’s been horrific because I actually witnessed the fall and how bad the fall was.”
“That’s a mental scar that I’ll never forget. Words can’t describe how bad it is.”
Emma was rushed to the hospital, where Stephen says Emma needed to undergo surgery for blood clots in her brain — and has since been placed in a medically induced coma while she heals.
“They’re not saying what impact the pressure on the brain of the blood clot will have after she comes round. There could be secondary issues there so in the meantime she’s just been on the machine,” said Stephen, who adds that she also has fractures in her neck.
A family friend established a GoFundMe to help the family, as Stephen says her hospital is $1,400 a day, and “we’re going to have a significant medical bill.”
Plus, he adds, “The hotel we’re staying in at the moment is an expensive hotel. Then just feeding the kids and keeping them occupied. I’m not working now because I’m over here.”
“We have got health insurance but at the moment they’re making us jump a few hoops just before they commit to whether they’re covering us or not,” he added. And as Stephen shares, the family understandably doesn’t want to leave Tenerife without Mom. “It could be a very long time that we’re over here with her until she’s in a position to fly home We need to be over here by her side and we don’t want to go anywhere without her.”
He shared photos of Emma’s bloodied bedsheets, explaining that they hadn’t known how significant the mosquito problem was.
‘It’s not something we ever considered how bad a bite could be,” he said. “It’s amazing how much pain a little tiny insect can have on you.”
