Scottish holidaymaker, 26, fights for life in Ibiza after catching swine flu

Published on Sunday 27 September 2009 22:57

A YOUNG Scottish woman is on a life-support machine in Ibiza after contracting swine flu.

Lindy Paterson, 26, from Fife, fell ill after arriving in Spain with three friends for a summer holiday. She was in intensive care last night and in a "serious but stable" condition.

Her parents, Celine and William Paterson, from Kelty Bridge in Fife, flew out on 16 September and have been keeping a bedside vigil.

Miss Paterson, who arrived in Ibiza two weeks ago, became ill just days into her holiday.

She spent five days in bed but concerned friends called an ambulance after her condition deteriorated. Her three friends are back in Scotland and Mrs Paterson said they have not developed any flu symptoms.

Last night Mrs Paterson said her daughter's illness was her "worst nightmare".

"Lindy rang me just days into her holiday and said she didn't feel very well," she said.

"She was coughing and said she had gone to the chemist to get throat spray. She was supposed to ring me on the Saturday but she never did – then the hospital rang on Sunday and told us how ill she was."

Mrs Paterson and her husband, a retired miner, flew to Spain three days later.

"When I saw her I burst into tears," she said. "Her face was so pale and drawn and she was so thin. She had tubes everywhere and a machine which was breathing for her.

"I just remembered hugging her before she went, reminding her to take care, not to drink too much and to eat properly."

She said her daughter, who works for Lloyds Banking Group in Edinburgh, had been planning a "girlie" holiday for months. "It was her first proper holiday with a bunch of friends and they were so excited about going," she added.

Miss Paterson is being treated at a private Spanish hospital, Grupo Policlinica, and her mother said that when they arrived doctors told them how ill she was.

"They took us into a room and said that she had tested positive for swine flu but that she also had pneumonia and that she was on a life support machine. It is a mother's worst nightmare – I can't eat or sleep for worry."

She said her other daughter, Louise, 23, who is training to be a nurse, was very upset.

She also said Miss Paterson had just bought her own flat in Cowdenbeath. "Lindy is such a fun, wonderful girl. She loves music, exercise and cycling so she is really fit and strong," she added. "We are hoping this is going to help her fight this."

Mrs Paterson said she was told several days ago doctors were planning to fly her daughter to the UK so she could receive specialist treatment – extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), used to treat serious swine flu cases at a hospital in Leicester. However, they told her on Saturday she was too sick to fly.

"That was a real blow, we just want to get our girl home," she added. "We can't touch or speak to her which is so very hard – I just want to give my wee girl a hug. We are hoping now that as her condition has stabilised she is over the worst."

A spokeswoman from the Foreign Office said: "We can confirm the hospitalisation of a British woman in Ibiza for pneumonia and that we are providing consulate assistance."