A British baby born prematurely during her parent’s holiday was held ‘hostage’ in a Turkish hospital for three months over an unpaid medical bill.
Ayda Ward was kept in intensive care, with her parents unable to cuddle or even feed her, while hospital bosses demanded £94,000 from the couple – despite their holiday insurers being liable for all costs.
The baby’s mother Adele Blake, 28, claims a hospital in Turkey confiscated her and her partner Brandon Ward’s, 19, passports. They also alarmed the couple by telling them that previous parents have been forced to abandon their babies.
When Ms Blake reached out to her insurer Atlas Direct, they claimed they had lost her paperwork, before ignoring her desperate calls for help.
Ms Blake told MailOnline: ‘ Even though she [Ayda] could take a bottle they kept feeding her on a tube [in intensive care] because they wanted to keep her there – they were literally holding her hostage.
‘I was told they needed their money or they would keep the baby and we wouldn’t be allowed to return to the UK’.
The couple, who set up a GoFundMe page to support them through their ordeal, were finally allowed to take their baby home after begging local police officers to rescue their daughter, who flew to Bradford on September 20.
Ms Blake is speaking out in the hope other families will not have to go through the same ordeal.
