Russian Teacher in Coma After Egypt Hospitalization Faces High Bills

Olga Gardikhanova has been returned to Russia — the teacher from Tatarstan who fell into a coma in Egypt. She was transported to Kazan, to the Republican Clinical Hospital (RKB). The information was confirmed by our colleagues from 116.RU.

The woman is in the intensive care unit. Her condition is assessed as stably severe, she remains in a coma and is connected to a ventilator.

Meanwhile, the clinic in Sharm el-Sheikh requested over 11 thousand dollars for her treatment. This is the amount for four and a half days of stay after the insurance ended. This is about 871,000 rubles (approximately $11,500).

“After the insurance ended, we were presented with a bill for 11.5 thousand dollars. We didn«t have time to wait any longer. We simply wouldn»t have been able to afford to bring mom back later,” Gardikhanov told RIA Novosti.

According to the young man, the disaster medicine center, which usually handles the evacuation of Russian citizens in such cases, unfortunately could not say exactly when transportation would be possible: they might have had to wait another week or two, and the family did not have money for further stay in the Egyptian clinic. He said that therefore the woman«s relatives decided to transport her to Kazan on their own.

Recall that the 51-year-old teacher fell ill on January 4 immediately after arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh, right at the airport. She was hospitalized, diagnosed with a stroke, and was in a coma. There, she underwent surgery.

After returning to her homeland, the son tried to find a way to transport his mother home, but private companies were asking for 13 million rubles (approximately $171,600 at the time) for this, which was too expensive for the family.

Olga had previous health problems: she had already suffered an ischemic stroke, and also suffers from hypertension and diabetes. The hospital in Egypt did not give any prognosis.