Laura Storr, 35, is in desperate need of a lung transplant but doesn’t qualify for the life-saving surgery in the Middle Eastern country
The sister of a critically ill Brit stuck in Saudi Arabia has made an urgent plea to get her home for treatment.
Laura Storr, 35, is in desperate need of a lung transplant but doesn’t qualify for the life-saving op in the Middle Eastern country. She’s now been approved for treatment on the NHSbut needs £110,000 to cover the costs of a medical evacuation flight.
Her sister Emily, who has set up a GoFundMe page in an bid to raise the funds, said: “For the past two months, Laura has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia, and her condition continues to worsen. She is now too unwell to travel on a commercial flight and requires a specialist medical team to accompany her on a medivac, with a UK hospital team ready to provide immediate intensive care the moment she lands.
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“Due to the ongoing conflict in the region, the cost of this medivac is significantly higher than usual. The situation has made travel more complex and urgent, requiring additional resources, planning, and specialist support to ensure Laura can be transported safely.
“As her sister, I am devastated. Watching her struggle from so far away is unbearable. Every day feels critical. On top of this, my mum and dad have been out there caring for her around the clock, and with the escalating conflict, their safety is also a constant worry.”
Laura, who moved to Saudi Arabia from Essex in 2020 to manage a fitness studio, has pulmonary arterial hypertension – a progressive and often fatal lung condition that causes high blood pressure in the arteries. She has medical insurance through work which is covering her current medical costs, but it won’t pay for the evacuation home.
Sick with worry, Emily said her sister’s condition is getting “progressively worse. She added: “They’ve [medics] now come to the conclusion that it’s this rare form [of her diagnosis] so it attacks the lungs more, which attacks your heart more aggressively and they don’t have medication for this yet. She’s now in a very severe, critical state. She hasn’t been able to fly home this past year because her oxygen is so low. It’s been awful.
“She’s now picked up this infection where it feels like her lungs are bruised and she’s really lacking in oxygen now. She’s coughing up quite a lot of blood and her consultant was like ‘we really need to get her back now before it actually is too late’. I wake up every day and I am on edge, it’s hard.”
It comes as Iran has threatened to attack energy infrastructure across in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar in retaliation for Israeli strikes on its largest gas field, South Pars field.
Donate to Laura’s fundraiser here
