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A father from Colorado became stuck in Copenhagen, Denmark, after contracting a super virus while on a cruise with his wife for their 37th wedding anniversary.
Guy Matlock unexpectedly fell ill just six days into their trip to Europe in September, their first expedition out of the US. His wife Adrien and their close friends, Kim and George, were completely fine, but Guy quickly developed a series of illnesses.
He first showed symptoms of Influenza type A, sepsis, and pneumonia, before the super virus sent him into cardiac arrest and prolonged lung failure. Speaking to KDVR, the Matlock’s daughter Moriah explained that the crusie ship docked just as his health became worse.
“They pulled into port as soon as possible,” she said. “They found that he had flu A, pneumonia, and sepsis essentially turned into a super virus within his body and started attacking his major organs.”
Guy is currently being treated at a Copenhagen hospital, where he is relying on a ventilator yet remains somewhat conscious as he suffers from brain damage. Despite his current health condition, Guy’s family is pushing to get him home once he remains stable enough for air travel.
In an effort to raise money for the couple’s flight home, the Matlocks set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of $150,000.
“His heart has begun to recover from full cardiac arrest, his lungs have become stronger, the ventilator is only at 25 percent, and dialysis has been reduced to an intermittent need,” the GoFundMe page states. “The infection has caused mini strokes in his parietal lobes that are affecting the rate at which he can awake. As his body gains its strength there will be a long road to recovery. The current need is to get Guy and Adrian home.”
According to USA Today, an emergency medical evacuation from Europe typically costs between $65,000 to $90,000, depending on the patient’s condition and required care. However, the “medevac flight home” Guy requires supposedly costs more than $150,000, but insurance will only cover about $24,000.
“Before a flight can be booked this payment is needed up-front,” the page description reads. As of now, more than $47,000 has been raised from 730 donations made.
Adrien is currently looking after Guy in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, the Matlock children were forced to return home after they used emergency passports to fly out and check on their father.
“It’s very isolating in a different country, a country where you don’t know any of the language and there’s so many different societal changes. His brain just isn’t getting enough stimulation from the Danish society, because he just hears the different languages and he isn’t able to compute,” Moriah told KDVR.
In a separate interview with WJTV, the daughter said: “No one can explain the sorrows that it can bring seeing someone so strong in such a not-so-strong state. Someone that has been everything that you ever needed in your life and they are incapacitated to not being able to even breathe on their own.”
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