"The neurosurgeon billed me for almost $25,000," said widow Karen Malone, whose 60-year-old husband (and grandfather of 26) Perry collapsed in Guayaquil in November and died last week in a Florida hospital.
The Malone family also incurred bills in Ecuador in amounts of $3,500 for cell phone use, and a total of over $13,000 for diagnosis and care at a GYE hospital and other expenses during six weeks, while they waited for their U.S. insurance to agree it would pay to airlift Perry Malone to Florida. The family is from Flint, Michigan.
Perry's heart attack and stroke occurred while the Malones were visiting Guayaquil for an essential-oils business conference where Karen was a guest speaker. He had a long history of heart illness.
After he collapsed, the retired firefighter was rushed in a wheelchair to the hospital.
"It turned out there was a hospital five buildings over and it was quicker to run Perry to the hospital than drive," Karen Perry said. "It's different over there. The traffic is horrible and there is no respect for emergency vehicles."
After insurance eventually agreed to pay for his U.S. airlift, Karen faced the problem of hospital billing -- convincing doctors that they would be paid.
"Over there, they expect you to pay right there for it to be done."
Karen said that after she signed documents stating that she would be responsible for her husband's medical bills, the hospital finally released Perry. He was airlifted on Christmas and died in Fort Lauderdale on January 16th.
The Perry Family Fund has raised several thousand dollars to date, at gofundme.com
source: mlive.com (Michigan Live); name of the GYE hospital was not reported.