A PENSIONER has been left trapped on a life support machine in a Turkish hospital after insurers refused to pay his medical bills, the Daily Mail reports.

Dennis Gittins, 88, was on holiday in Marmaris earlier this summer when he suffered a stroke that left him in a coma.

His family are now being prevented from flying him home after insurers said they would not pay for his care because he didn’t fill in travel insurance forms correctly.

Mr Gittins and his wife Jean, 91, flew out to Turkey more than two weeks ago, but their holiday turned into a nightmare when Dennis collapsed from a stroke in a shop.

Mrs Gittins has been forced to fly back to the couple’s home in Whiston, Merseyside, because she could not afford hotel bills to stay at his bedside.

Mr Gittins has meanwhile been left potentially brain dead and his family fear he may not come out of a coma. 

They want him to be cared for in a British hospital and to end his life here if he does not pull through.

But the family have been left angry after Mr Gittins’s insurance company, Ageas, said they would pay to fly Mr Gittins home, but would not pay for his care.

They claim Mr Gittins did not declare a previous stroke he had suffered when arranging travel insurance, despite Mrs Gittins insistence that he did make the company aware of the issue.

The £30,000 bill for the retired policeman’s care is now rising by £1,500-a-day, with the hospital refusing to let him leave until the sum is paid.

Mrs Gittins said: “I don’t know what to do. They want £30,000, but we don’t have that kind of money. They even told his sister to take out a loan to pay for it, but she’s 78 and has cancer – we can’t do anything.

“’It’s very hard, Whiston hospital is only round the corner and I could visit him. We just don’t know what’s going to happen, and no one will help us. We’ve called MPs, but they haven’t called back and the consulate have called but are doing nothing.’

Mr Gittins’ brother-in-law, Alan McKie, added: ‘It’s an absolute nightmare, we don’t know what to do. My sister is being amazing and keeping so strong, especially considering she’s 91.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said it is providing consular assistance and the hospital confirmed it is speaking with British officials.

A spokesman for Intana Insurance Group, who are handling the claim for Ageas, said: “As key information relating to Mr Gittins’ medical history was not disclosed when purchasing the policy it was not possible to make an accurate assessment of his medical circumstances. We are therefore settling this claim based wholly on the medical declarations provided to us.”