I’m Kate and I am starting this recovery fund for my dear wife of thirty years - the beautiful Paula.

Paula had not seen her UK-based sister and her family for more than five years. Paula recently departed Australia on the 24 July for a long awaited two-week reunion. As she exited the airplane at Heathrow Airport, she collapsed and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. There, she was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolism (multiple clots to both sides of her lungs) and a dilated right heart valve, caused by the long haul flight. She spent four days in the hospital and was released on blood thinners with an expectation of recovery over the following months.

Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism patients are not recommended to fly for 4-6 weeks, and need cardiology sign off before they are allowed to fly again. Paula is having follow-up cardiac visits this week and in a fortnight to determine when she might be able to fly home to us. Her recovery is very slow; she still has heart pain and fatigue from small amounts of walking. Due to the sensitive and quiet nature of her recovery, we moved her from her sister’s family home to an apartment hotel in nearby Cambridge UK.

Luckily we had purchased travel insurance. We have already had to pay up front costs for accommodation, and medical costs of over $9000 AUD and have lodged insurance claims, and we should be reimbursed for those.

However, Paula‘s regular income will cease from next week as she has already exhausted her annual leave and sick leave entitlements, so we are additionally facing at least a month of loss of income and further up front costs arising in coming weeks.

We are getting by on my income, however the future is unclear. Even when Paula returns home she may be unable to work at her full capacity for a while. The insurance will not cover any of her loss of income until after five weeks of lost work.

Paula does not have income protection through her Australian Superannuation fund and would not have access to any government funded support for illness until after her return. For all these reasons we are seeking some funds to provide recovery support and income support to Paula as she navigates the next weeks. We appreciate your generosity and your support of Paula and our family.