Brit tourist trapped on ventilator in Greek hospital after mistake dies of 'septic shock'

Alan Kirby has died in a Greek hospital (Image: Zante)

A British pensioner who was stuck in a Greek hospital on a ventilator has died after a travel insurance blunder landed him with an eye-watering £14,000 bill.

Alan Kirby suffered a "septic shock" and died on Monday, according to his heartbroken family. The 67-year-old car valeter first thought the pain in his side was from playing in the sea in Zante with his stepdaughter's children. However, when he awoke struggling to breathe, he sought medical advice.

Doctors advised him to return to the UK for a biopsy on a mass in his lung that could be cancerous. Unfortunately, before Alan and his family could get home, the 67-year-old's health deteriorated and he was put on a ventilator, stopping him from taking a commercial flight back to the UK.

Instead, he was airlifted to a private hospital in Athens.

Left devastated, his family decided to raise money for an ambulance flight home, and speak out to warn others about holiday insurance errors.

However, in a post on his GoFundMe page, Alan's stepdaughter Liza Whitemore, 40, wrote: "We would like to thank all your support and donations over the last eight weeks.

"It comes with great sadness that Alan gained his wings in the night in Athens we will be heading out to Athens to have a cremation."

Alan Kirby, with his stepchild Liza Whitemore (Image: Liza Whitemore / SWNS)

Hospital officials contacted his insurance company, which disclosed that Alan was aware of the mass - something he says British doctors considered benign fatty tissue- and told him not to worry about it.

This made it a pre-existing medical condition, which he had not declared to insurers, therefore invalidating his cover and leaving the family with a £14,000 bill.

Liza, a private care assistant, previously said: "We know we've made a the mistake [with the insurance] - that's the problem. My mum had gone into the bank she had insurance with and they said, 'just go on holiday, you don't have to do anything', They didn't know about the mass.

"And he was well before - he was working as a car valeter the day before the holiday."

The family wanted to raise £45,000 for the private ambulance. Any money from the appeal will go to his cremation in Athens on Saturday, August 30, with family and friends invited to the local pub for a 'live link' up.