A British holidaymaker is in a fight for survival in Spain after suffering a seizure and sustaining a serious head injury during a family trip.
Paul Grant, 43, had developed seizures earlier this year following a violent mugging. After what his family described as a difficult year, he had planned the Lanzarote break as a chance to treat his loved ones.
However, tragedy struck on the family’s first night at their all-inclusive hotel. Mr Grant’s mother awoke to discover him covered in blood after he reportedly struck his head on a wall while having a seizure.
He was taken urgently to hospital and placed into a medically induced coma after his liver and kidneys began to fail.
Mr Grant was later airlifted to a hospital on Gran Canaria, where he is receiving intensive care treatment.
His sister, Kimberly Sharp, said doctors found dangerous pressure on his brain and carried out emergency surgery, removing the right side of his skull to relieve it.
While Mr Grant remains sedated in hospital, his relatives say they have already spent more than £1,500 on travel and accommodation as they try to remain by his bedside in Spain.
Ms Sharp has launched a GoFundMe appeal to support the family with those expenses, with donations now exceeding £5,000.
Paul Grant, 43 (pictured right), is critically ill in Spain after hitting his head during a seizure on a family holiday.
Mr Grant is pictured in hospital as he continues to receive medical care.
‘He just wanted to make some nice family memories and have a good time,’ Ms Sharp, from Windsor, Berkshire, said.
‘A couple of months ago he got beaten up in Newcastle and had a seizure.
‘He was jumped for his wallet and his phone, he was put into hospital and hasn’t been the same since.
‘That’s why this family holiday was so important to him,’ she added.
‘It was all-inclusive for a week in Lanzarote. We had a good first day, hung out by the pool and had a bit of dinner.
‘I woke up to my mum banging on my door at 5am because Paul had a seizure and had fallen and banged his head in the hotel room.
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‘He was covered in blood, it was in the hallway, we think he banged it on the wall.
‘My mum did everything she could. She woke up to the noises he was making, she tried to put him on his side so he didn’t swallow his tongue.
‘He was bleeding from his head and his nose and still having a fit. We went down to the reception to get an ambulance.
‘He kind of came to and he was really confused, he had no idea what was going on.
‘He was talking like he had had a stroke, my mum went in the ambulance with him to the hospital.
Pictured: Mr Grant with his sister Kimberly Sharp, who has set up a GoFundMe to cover her family’s expenses as her brother remains in hospital
‘My mum was told to wait and at about 9am they told her he was in intensive care.
‘A doctor said their hospital wasn’t equipped to deal with his injuries, he has a bleed on the brain, [and] he was going to have to be airlifted to Gran Canaria.
‘At about 5pm my mum received a call saying they needed to do the surgery to try and save his life [as] the pressure on his brain was too much.
‘[They said] if they didn’t do the surgery he would die. They rang for permission and did it then and there.’
Despite Mr Grant’s surgery having no complications, his sister said he’s ‘not out of the danger zone yet’.
‘Half his skull was removed on his right-hand side. He’s not quite out of the danger zone yet, a part of his brain is severely damaged.
‘He was put into a medically induced coma because his liver and kidneys were failing. He’s not awake now, I’m devastated,’ she said.
‘He’s still highly sedated but he can hear us. He is connected to all the tubes but not on life support, which is a good thing.’