Hartlepool man, 74, hit with $40,000 medical bill after falling ill on holiday in Mexico

John Wilkinson, 74, is currently stranded in a Mexican hospital which will not release him until his family pay $40,0000 in medical bills.

He was taken into intensive care and treated for pneumonia after he suddenly became ill at the airport while on his way back to America where and his wife Rosalind had been visiting their son.

Due to a problem with John’s travel insurance, his family have been left to foot the bill.

An online crowdfunder has already raised over $5,000 (£3,800) for the well-known man, from the Burbank area of town.

John’s granddaughter Paige Milligan said: “He is stuck in the hospital and they won’t let him out until he pays $40,000.

"My grandparents were due home this coming Thursday. They only had a week of their holiday left.

"Everybody really wants to just get them back home.”

John and Rosalind have been staying with their son John Terry Wilkinson and his girlfriend Tanya for over two months in Austin, Texas.

They all took a short trip over the border to Mexico but John fell ill on their last day in the country.

John junior said on the fundraising page: “We thought he was having some sort of attack. The paramedics came and he was transported via ambulance to a local hospital.

"His insurance is not able to cover his treatment due to a coverage problem. We are just desperate to have him go home.”

John has been in the hospital since Tuesday, July 16, and has been moved out of ICU onto a general ward after making a speedy recovery.

Paige said he and Rosalind are well known in town and have many friends, including at the Belle Vue social club.

She said: “We have had hundreds and hundreds of calls and messages. They have helped literally hundreds of people over the years.

“Now everybody is just devastated that this has happened to them.”

She called the response so far to the fundraising page “amazing”.

Anyone who wants to help can donate at the page ‘Help John bring dad home’ at gofundme.com