Cyprus Holiday Medical Bill: Family Faces £40k Cost
Briton’s Cyprus Holiday Turns into Costly Medical Emergency
updated June 11, 2025
A Northumberland family is urgently seeking funds to bring ian Wright, 47, home from Cyprus, where he is hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. Wright, who was vacationing with his wife, Sarah, fell ill shortly after arriving in Tala, near Paphos.
Initially suspected to be food poisoning, Wright’s condition rapidly deteriorated, requiring dialysis, a ventilator, and multi-organ support at Nicosia General Hospital. His mother, Monica Muckle, has been at his side as May 22, hoping to facilitate his return to Cramlington.
The estimated cost for a private medical jet, staffed with a doctor and paramedic, is £40,995. The family’s financial resources are dwindling, especially after AXA, Wright’s travel insurance provider, declined coverage.The denial stems from Wright’s failure to disclose prior consultations for high blood pressure and uric acid.
Lucy Wareing, a friend of Sarah, established a GoFundMe page that has raised nearly £9,000. The funds were initially intended for the family’s expenses in Cyprus. Though, the family now hopes to allocate as much of it as possible toward medical repatriation.
Muckle told ChronicleLive, “We are absolutely heartbroken because if we have to go home on Monday, he’s here on his own. The thought of it is just horrendous…we’ve got to go home and not even be able to tell him that he’s going to be following us because we just don’t no.”
The family is exploring options such as accessing Wright’s workplace pension to offset the repatriation expenses. Muckle saeid she has contacted charities for assistance, but moast focus on repatriating individuals who have died abroad. The British Consulate in Cyprus is providing translation and hospital updates.
What’s next
The family continues to explore all available avenues to fund ian Wright’s medical repatriation and bring him home to Northumberland.