Brit stuck in Bali with 'brain swelling' disease faces £50,000 bill after health insurance expired days earlier
A travelling Brit was left with a horrific disease after a mosquito bite caused his health to deteriorate.
Andrew Court made his way to Bali to see his mate, Zeke Scott, before starting a new job. However, he started to feel unwell with a fever in January and put it down to dengue fever, a tropical disease that can be spread by infected mosquitoes.
It turned out that it would be something much worse, as after three days of Andrew's health worsening, he suffered multiple seizures and was taken to hospital.
The traveller discovered from doctors that he has pneumonia and something called viral encephalitis, a condition that causes swelling in the brain, rather than dengue fever.
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Zeke and Andrew's family are still unaware of what caused the condition, but they are supporting him by his bedside, despite the former saying that he is in 'a blank state'.
According to the NHS, encephalitis is an 'uncommon but serious condition' where the brain can become inflamed. It requires urgent treatment and can lead to death.
The very young and very old are most at risk, with the condition often starting with flu-like symptoms.
Zeke, 40, added that he had no idea who anyone is, though he briefly recognised his mother a couple of weeks ago.
As well as all of this, Andrew's health insurance expired just one week before his seizures began, with it due to renew once he started his new job in February.
The Brit's family are currently attempting to fundraise £50,000 to pay for his treatment and flight home to Derbyshire.
Zeke, who is from Bali, Indonesia, explained that it was 'confirmed' that he has viral encephalitis and pneumonia, and noted that while he thought it was dengue as he was nauseous for a few nights, they were surprised when the tests came back negative.
He explained: "They're testing him constantly, they're focusing on dealing with the encephalitis because of the brain swelling.
"He recognised his mum last week on Thursday and gave her a big hug, but not long after he was unaware of who anyone was and went to a blank state.
"He goes through phases of being present and there are a lot of times when he's not present."
The Bali-native revealed that his friend for an MRI and is undergoing treatment.
Andrew made his way from Buxton to Bali after accepting a job for a UK-based on a neighbouring island, though the engineer's insurance expiring was described as 'really bad timing' by Zeke.
The Brit's brother, Stewart Court, is scared to fly out to see him as he is afraid that he won't recognise him.
"I was shocked, dismayed, it's very, very hard. It's devastating to know he is in there, with me over the other side of the water," he said.
"At the moment we're just taking it day by day. It's a condition when we don't want to overly stress him out," Stewart explained, revealing that Andrew's parents are with him, but that he needs to be reminded everyday of where he is and why.
The brother further admitted: "I haven't even had a chat or a video call because it may stress him out not knowing who I am at that moment so we're taking it day by day. We're devastated."
Andrew's family are trying to bring Andrew back to the UK in his state, which will set them back £30,000, while each night in the ICU is costing $1,000 (£800).
Stewart said he is 'appreciative' of people donating to the cause, saying that friends from high school donated up to £1,000 towards his brother's recovery. You can donate to Andrew's GoFundMe here.
Joshua Nair