Niaomi Baker, 33, from Kirkby was rushed to hospital and placed in an induced coma after falling ill while boarding a plane back to the UK from Tunisia – her family is fundraising £35,000 to bring her home as she had no travel insurance
A woman “won’t wake up properly” after suffering a medical episode in Tunisia, her cousin has revealed.
Niaomi Baker, from Kirkby, had boarded her flight home to the UK on 11 February following a week-long holiday. However, she suddenly became unwell and the 33 year old was rushed to hospital in the north African country and placed in an induced coma.
Her cousin, Laylla Baker, said Niaomi remains bedbound nearly two months on from the medical episode. The Liverpool Echo previously reported on Niaomi’s plight as she remains stranded in Tunisia while her family desperately attempted to bring her home by fundraising, as Niaomi had not travelled with insurance.
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Laylla revealed her cousin had gone abroad without the family’s knowledge, travelling to the country with a friend and without travel insurance despite having several medical conditions.
Laylla, a mum-of-one also from Kirkby, had no knowledge of her cousin’s trip until she received a phone call from one of her carers on 15 February – four days after she was placed in a coma, reports the Liverpool Echo.
In a recent update, Laylla said: “They woke her up three weeks ago and she isn’t waking up properly. She’s just opening her eyes from time-to-time.” She continued: “There’s still no chance with Niaomi. We’re just hoping to raise the funds to get her back home and in the Walton Centre where she needs to be.”
The 34-year-old previously explained: “I found out on the Sunday, it wasn’t straight away. My heart just sunk, I had no words. I felt guilty, I felt like I had to be the one that has to be responsible.
“If I’d had known she was going, I could have made sure she had everything in place to go, her insurance and everything. It’s just horrible. I just felt numb, I can’t even tell you what I felt because it was just horrible.
“She’s 33, she’s vulnerable, she’s in a strange country alone. She has no one to talk to her to help her wake up. You don’t expect to get that phone call to say something has happened to one of your family members, especially abroad.
“You see it all the time on the ECHO and social media but you never expect it to happen to one of your own and when it does it just becomes so real. It’s so scary.”
Laylla revealed to the ECHO that she’s unable to travel to see her cousin, having recently been diagnosed with a grade two astrocytoma – a form of brain tumour – and cannot afford the necessary travel insurance.
She described how Niaomi has no immediate family nearby following her mum Karen’s death two years ago, while her dad is currently in a nursing home.
After her mum’s death, Niaomi was put into an induced coma following a diagnosis of FND, experiencing up to 96 seizures daily, her cousin revealed. She made a recovery but now confronts “history repeating itself”.
Niaomi has since emerged from her coma but hasn’t fully regained consciousness. Communication between the family and the hospital’s medical team is restricted, according to Laylla, though it has been suggested she be flown to the UK for additional treatment.
A GoFundMe has been set up by Niaomi’s family as they work to bring her back to Merseyside. The fundraiser stated: “They have advised that she needs to be transferred back to England. As a family, this is extremely worrying and heartbreaking to hear, and it has made the urgency of bringing her home even more critical.
“We feel completely helpless knowing she is alone, and all we want is for her to be back where she belongs -surrounded by her family and receiving the care she truly needs. Our only goal is to bring Niaomi back home to the UK as quickly as possible.
“We have received a medical air ambulance quote of £33,200, and with additional associated costs, we are aiming to raise £35,000 to safely bring Niaomi home. Without travel insurance, this is something we simply cannot afford alone.
“We are asking from the bottom of our hearts for any support you can give. Every donation, no matter how small, brings us closer to getting Niaomi home.” Laylla told the ECHO: “This is our last option. We went to our MP, Anneliese Midgley who raised it in parliament last week and we just want her back home.”
Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley told the ECHO: “I am deeply concerned for Niaomi and her family at this incredibly difficult time. I have been in regular contact with them and will continue to do everything I can to support them.
“This is a truly heartbreaking situation, and my thoughts are with her loved ones.”
