Campaign to bring 'brilliant' Shrewsbury woman home after suffering stroke in Italy
A Shropshire family has started a crowdfunding campaign to bring a woman home from Sicily following a severe stroke.
Patricia Ward started the campaign on Go Fund Me for her 35-year-old sister Lucy, who suffered a devastating stroke on October 6.
Lucy, who hails from Cross Houses in Shrewsbury, had been working as an English language teacher in Siracusa, Sicily, when she took ill. The stroke affected her brainstem, and prior to emergency surgery to remove the blood clot doctors warned Lucy's loved ones that they did not know if she would live.
She fought and survived, but remained in a coma for several days while on a ventilator. She would later regain consciousness and be taken off the ventilator. She has also regained mobility in her facial features and can move her head, as well as having feeling in her arms and leg. However, she is unable to move from the neck down.
Her speech has been affected too, but Lucy's family hopes that this is due to tracheostomy and will improve in time.
As Lucy was in Sicily long-term for her work she was without travel insurance when the stroke happened, and now her family needs around £23,000 to bring her home to Shropshire. As of Friday afternoon the tally on the fundraising page stands at some £8,400.
Patricia said: "As a family we are just so grateful to everyone who has donated. We are overwhelmed with the support we have received up to this point and are so thankful for people's generosity. A lot of donations have come from people who know the family, but so much has also come from people we have never even met.
"Lucy is able to communicate with us, and has told us that her wish is to come home to be near her family. The doctors in Sicily also believe that she has a better chance of recovery by coming home and being where she wants to be, but the sad thing is she will have to leave her partner, Luca, behind."
Preparations are underway to bring Lucy back home, and as soon as more is confirmed, Patricia intends to keep the Go Fund Me page updated.
She added: "We just don't know what her care needs will be when she gets back and we are looking to plan longer term."
If you would like to donate to the campaign click here.
