NC family coming home after being stuck in Hawaii when vacation ends with husband in hospital
JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Johnston County family who were desperate to get home after their dream vacation to Hawaii in April became a medical emergency, is coming back to North Carolina.
We first told you about this Four Oaks family last week. They've been stuck in Hawaii after getting off a cruise, and Air Force veteran Patrick "PJ" Smith got sick and developed a fungal lung infection.
Smith has been in the hospital since April. He was so sick, doctors put him in a medically induced coma and they didn't know if he would survive. His wife, Ellen, reached out to ABC11 Troubleshooter Diane Wilson, after they were told the trip insurance, wasn't going to cover this type of flight.
PJ is now well enough to come back to North Carolina on a medical flight.
Kindness of strangers
After viewers saw and shared our story, the Smith's online fundraiser now stands at more than eighty-two thousand dollars, which is enough to get PJ on a medical flight home. That flight is scheduled for Tuesday, July 1.
Ellen was left speechless by the generosity. She tells ABC11 News there is no way to thank everyone for their support.
"Nothing I say seems appropriate or adequate enough to share my heart and what everyone has done for this small family in North Carolina."
Any money raised above the cost of the medical flight, Ellen says will go towards the mounting medical bills.
Ellen and her son Geoffrey are flying out of Hawaii on Wednesday and are thrilled to get back home after unexpectedly being gone since April.
How we got here
Ellen Ennis Smith, her 37-year-old special needs son Geoffrey, and her husband Patrick, who goes by PJ, an Air Force veteran, arrived in Hawaii on April 9th. "It has always been my dream to come to Hawaii. He surprised me and he said, 'Let's do the trip now. Let's make memories now.'" The three of them made memories together as they did a land and sea cruise around the islands. When they got off the cruise, PJ started feeling sick.
Ellen says her husband said to her, "I feel like I can't breathe and we took him to urgent care. We called an ambulance and he's been in the hospital since April 20th."
PJ is still in the hospital in Hawaii, and Smith and Geoffrey are staying in a hotel as they did not want to leave PJ in Hawaii for the last three months. Smith adds, "He ended up with a fungal lung infection, which is difficult for someone who's had a transplant. They can't fight it with their immunity."So sick that doctors intubated PJ and put him in a medically induced coma. "There were a lot of conversations, and we were preparing ourselves to say goodbye and that PJ would pass in Hawaii, but he's a fighter," Smith said.
PJ did fight, and he is now awake, but still in the hospital. Smith says she found a hospital here in the Triangle to accept PJ, as the goal is for them to get home to North Carolina. "It has been a long three months. I need to get back to work and start getting a paycheck again." Smith says she also has to get back to Four Oaks for Geoffrey as he has cerebral palsy and needs to get back to his team, "My son rides horses with the North Carolina equestrian team, and if he is not back by a certain date, he loses his place on the team and this is his physical therapy. It's his emotional therapy, and it's been very difficult for him here because he doesn't have a home."
PJ's medical team says he is not strong enough to get back to North Carolina on a commercial flight; instead, it must be by medical transport, and the quoted cost is $139,900.
Smith says, "His private insurance says no, they're not going to pay. They would take him to the closest hospital, but they felt he was getting adequate care here. So they're not paying towards transport." Smith filed a claim with the trip insurance she bought, and it was approved, but it's not enough coverage. "They'll do the $50,000 and that is it. So, either I've got to find funding, or I've got to get him strong enough in the next couple of weeks to be able to get on that commercial flight, or I have to leave him in Hawaii, and that hurts my heart. I feel like if I don't take Geoffrey home, I'm a bad mom. If I don't stay here, my husband, I'm a bad wife, and I love them both. And I, you know, it's just a difficult situation."
Smith says she had no idea that travel insurance would not be enough coverage to get PJ home. "We had money in savings, but all of that's gone now. You just never think you're being responsible and doing these things, that it won't step forward and take care of you when it happens."
Time and options are running out for Smith as she's desperate to find a way to get her husband, PJ, home to the Triangle. "My plan is to leave around the second week of July, but the way it stands right now, I will be leaving PJ in Hawaii unless I can find a way home, and I don't want to do that."
Smith says she has reached out to several charity flight options to see if they can help, but so far no luck. An online fundraiser has been started for the family to try and get them the additional funds needed, as the travel insurance of $50,000 is just not enough to cover the $140,000 medical transport.
