What should have been a dream break in sunny Spain has turned into a holiday from hell for an Angus nurse after she broke her neck in a horrific fall.
Rachel Mackin, from Carnoustie, narrowly avoided a spinal injury when a vertebrae in her neck fractured.
The 25-year-old blacked out in her family’s holiday apartment where she was staying with husband Paul. She was carefully removed from the building and had surgery to repair a neck bone.
Rachel was released from a ward near Murcia on Friday but is waiting for permission to come home.
Rachel’s mother Lorraine Dunlevy (53), who works for Tesco, said she had feared the worst when friends got in touch to tell her about the fall, adding that the Spanish doctors were amazed by her daughter’s lucky escape.
”The first thing I wanted to do was to get out and see her,” said Lorraine. ”Our friend out in Spain went to see her and reassured us that there was nothing to worry about and that she had been taken good care of in hospital.
”She had gone to reach for a drink of juice and just collapsed. It seems she fainted and when she has come to, she was on the floor.”
Lorraine and her husband David (56), who also works for Tesco, flew out to Spain for four days last week to be at their daughter’s bedside and are set to go back out on Monday.
The temperature in Murcia has been over 30C and the family suspect Rachel may have passed out due to the heat.
Doctors have discharged her from hospital but stiches from her operation have to be checked before she can be given the all-clear to fly home.
Lorraine predicted it could be another two or three weeks before she is passed fit to board the plane.
Rachel, a theatre nurse at Stracathro Hospital near Brechin, has kept friends and family updated in a series of Twitter messages from her hospital bed.
She posted: ”I broke my neck on holiday in Spain. All good now though getting home from hospital today or tomorrow, will be home in a week.
”Still sore and stiff but allowed to move now. Was not allowed out of bed or to eat/drink for 9 days.”
Thankfully, the couple had taken out travel insurance before they left, which will cover Rachel’s lengthy hospital stay.
Paul, who works as an IT consultant, has been with his wife in Spain but is due to fly home over the weekend due to work commitments.
At the time of the fall he posted: ”Rachel slipped in the apartment and has a fracture in her neck. She’s getting surgery but will be fine.”
He later added: ”After a nightmare 10 days we are finally now in a hospital that is nicer than some hotels I’ve stayed in. Can’t wait to get home though.
”Op went well and she is recovering. I’ll be home at the weekend but Rachel will be a few more days here.”
Following the operation Rachel said: ”We are both doing fine…will need a holiday to recover from this.”
Friday is the earliest Rachel is expected to be able to fly back to Scotland.