‘We want to get him home’: Family stuck in Dominican Republic after emergency brain surgery

A dream vacation for a Johnsburg couple has become a nightmare as they search for a way home following emergency brain surgery.

Bonnie Dervis says she cannot find a medical flight to return her and her husband, Greg Dervis, back to the U.S. until a Dominican Republic hospital releases his medical records for providers to review. So far, she has been unable to get those records.

“I am feeling every emotion right now,” Dervis said from Greg’s hospital room on Tuesday afternoon.

Family friends have started a GoFundMe, Support the Dervis Family After a Medical Emergency Abroad, to help cover the medical expenses, including the $25,000 they’ve had to raise to get Greg emergency care and a medical flight out of the country.

The trip started as a high school graduation present for their son, Cole. He, along with his younger sister and his parents, were part of a 33-person contingent from Johnsburg on the trip, Dervis said.

The group took off from O’Hare airport on July 6, with plans to return on July 13, Jessica Johnson said. Her twin sons were among the recent graduates the group was celebrating, she said, adding they had planned the trip for a year.

On July 7, their first full day at a resort on the island, Greg spent it in the sun with their daughter, Morgan, at a water park. But that night he wasn’t feeling well and began vomiting, his wife said.

Initially, they thought it was a case of sun sickness. However, Greg continued feeling ill into Tuesday, July 8.

“On Tuesday (July 8) night, he was unable to walk and was very confused,” Dervis said. She took Greg to the resort’s medic, and he was later transported to a local hospital.

Before the doctors would do anything, Dervis said, they were told they’d need a $10,000 deposit to have a CT scan or get him into an ICU room. After some scrambling, they came up with the cash.

That CT scan indicated there was a blood clot on Greg’s brain, and “he needs to have emergency surgery,” Dervis said. He was taken to another hospital in the town of Higuey. Again, they were told they would need $15,000 for the surgery to go forward.

The surgery apparently went well, and Greg has been released to a regular room at the hospital. Now, Dervis said she needs those medical records to get him back to the U.S., where they hope their medical insurance will take over.

“I can’t get medical records from this place. To even find a way out of here, I need the CT scan. We can’t do a commercial flight. … I want to do a medical flight or even a ship,” Dervis said. “I am asking to get that scan.”

The U.S. embassy has been unable to help.

“We are stranded in another country with a language barrier and not getting stuff done,” Dervis said.

Friends in the U.S. are helping, including having the Dervis children stay with them while also trying to get help for the family, Johnson said. Many of those on the trip helped raise the initial deposits.

The group all purchased travel insurance, Johnson said. “We are hoping something can get covered, and we are getting quotes for private companies that do medical transfers.”

However, those quotes have been anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000, Johnson said.

“None of us is worried about the money,” Johnson said, adding that it will be sorted out later. “We want to get him home.”