A Canadian woman has died after falling ill while on vacation in Jamaica and returning home only to be turned away from two local hospitals.
Kelly Beckerley-Murphy, 65, traveled to Jamaica for what was supposed to be a week-long vacation with her best friend.
Unfortunately, shortly after the two men arrived on Sunday, Beckerley began having difficulty breathing and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Montego Bay.
On the way to the hospital, the 65-year-old suffered respiratory failure and cardiac arrest, her daughter Shannon Horner said.
Beckerley was revived but remained unconscious in a hospital bed in Jamaica awaiting transport home to St. Catharines.
Kelly Beckerley-Murphy, 65, traveled to Jamaica for what was supposed to be a week-long vacation with her best friend.
On her way to the hospital, Beckerley (pictured right) suffered respiratory failure and cardiac arrest, said her daughter Shannon Horner (pictured left).
During her more than a week’s stay in the hospital, Beckerley developed pneumonia, sepsis and a “horrible bed sore,” according to her daughter.
The 65-year-old woman’s family was informed by her insurer, CAA Niagara, that there were no beds available in Ontario to accommodate her.
However, Niagara Health and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care said there are beds available in these facilities.
Eventually, a bed was finally found to accommodate Beckerley-Murphy at St. Catharines Hospital, where she was admitted on April 16.
Beckerley tragically passed away surrounded by her family Thursday evening at the local hospital.
Horner said his mother “should have come home eight days earlier.”
“It’s been eight days since our family will never return,” she said.
Horner wonders if things might have turned out differently if her mother had been able to return to Canada sooner.
‘It’s horrible. It’s a fucking tragedy,” Horner told the St. Catharines Standard.
Horner had previously created a GoFundMe to help raise support and get his mother back to Canada while she was stuck in the Jamaican hospital. The GoFundMe raised $2,760 and received 37 donations.
According to what Horner wrote on GoFundMe, they managed to send Beckerley’s husband, Ted, to Jamaica to “stand by her and advocate for her.”
Beckerley tragically passed away surrounded by her family Thursday evening at the local hospital.
The most recent update shared on GoFundMe was on April 20. She said: “My mother is currently back from Jamaica, she is in a stable but critical condition.
“She is currently on a ventilator and is in a coma. She suffered a cardiac arrest due to respiratory failure in the ambulance en route to Jamaica.
“They are concerned about cognitive function due to the lack of oxygen during this time.” Since then, my mother has not regained consciousness.
Situations like Beckerley’s happen far too frequently, according to Will McAleer, executive director of the Travel Insurance Association of Canada (THIAC).
McAleer said most incidents go unreported when Canadians get sick and find themselves stuck in foreign hospitals with no indication of when they will be able to return home.
“We don’t think this is an equitable level of accessibility that we would expect under a universal health care system,” he said.
St. Catharines MLA Jennie Stevens said she planned to take action after learning of Beckerley’s case.
“End of life is a crucial time to say goodbye and heal with your family,” she said.
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