Friday, February 5, 2010

Alexandra Johanna

A friend of mine has just had an incredible thing happen to her, it's almost like fiction. I'll explain it via an e-mail that I sent to George Hook today...



Hi George,

Greetings from a cold and snowy Toronto. Regarding my tweet about an Irish citizen in a spot of bother in South Africa, here’s the story:

My wife and I used to live in Dubai, my wife used to fly for Emirates, we still have quite a few friends there who are flying for them, one being an Irish girl (her name is Liz). Liz has had a history of stomach problems, ulcers etc... before Christmas she went to the Emirates clinic in Dubai (they are so large that they have their own hospitals and clinics for their staff) complaining of stomach pains and general tiredness etc. She went back to them for test results a couple of weeks ago but the clinic had lost her results, so in the interim the Doctor decided to up her ulcer medication.

On the 21st of Jan, Liz was on an overnight Johannesburg stop, she had severe stomach aches during the night - it turns out that they weren't cramps, they were labour contractions. She self delivered a premature baby girl in the hotel room and with the assistance of the staff was able to get the baby breathing and get to a private hospital. Liz did not know she was pregnant. I believe that staff in Emirates welfare department back in Dubai were initially being very good to Liz & baby but as of a few days ago (George – here’s the real kicker)  her contract has been terminated and her health insurance revoked, She's now alone in JNB stuck with USD$86k medical bill (the hospital need payments up front for the next three months worth of care for baby Alexandra) along with accommodation costs, food etc... why, you ask did they terminate her employment and revoke her insurance? Because she is unmarried. She has worked for them for seven years and they have left her stranded in JNB.

Emirates have also told her to vacate the hotel she is staying in and she now has to find alternative accommodation for the next 5 months (baby Alexandra will be in hospital for three and it will be another two months afterwards that she can travel back to Ireland)

Liz has told me that the staff in the hotel she’s in (and soon has to leave) have been superb and even had a baby shower for her in her hotel room. I have written to one of the Vice Presidents of HR in Emirates who I know and explained the situation to him as I suspect it wasn’t escalated that high up the ranks. He has said they will investigate it.

If there is a silver lining, it’s that Liz is lucky that she didn’t give birth whilst in Dubai as she would have been jailed as it’s against the law to have a baby out of wedlock.

The unfortunate part is that she’s now stuck in JNB for the next five months. There is a facebook group called ‘Alexandra Johanna’ where there are details of an account that any donations can be made to help Liz and baby out. Her family and friends have managed to raise a good amount of the medical fees but we’re still many thousands of dollars/euros away from what the hospital are asking.

Anyhow George, that’s the story. I hope it’s of interest to you. If you need more info including mine or Liz (in SA's) tel number, please let me know. 

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So, there you go. An incredible story. If you'd like to help; here are the account details:


Bank: Nedbank
Branch Code: 13280500
Account Name: Mrs Louise Mickel
Account Number: 1328040364
Swift Code: nedszajj


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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Beer lover, Loving Husband and Dad :-) - oh and I'm an expert recruiter