A British couple are stuck in Tenerife after their baby son arrived three months early while they were on holiday.
Cai Daniels, 26, and Alis Lloyd, 20, jetted off for a ‘babymoon’ break to Tenerife to experience their last holiday together before the new arrival.
But Alis unexpectedly went into labour while abroad and her son George was born at a Spanish hospital.
They have been told by medics they need to remain on Tenerife for at least eight weeks until George is strong enough to fly home – but the couple say their insurance won’t cover all their bills during this time.
Friends and well-wishers have rallied round to help the first-time parents and launched a fundraising page on their behalf, which already raised more than £3,000.
Cai Daniels (left), 26, and Alis Lloyd (right), 20, jetted off for a ‘babymoon’ break to Tenerife to experience their last holiday together before the new arrival
But Alis unexpectedly went into labour while abroad and her son George was born at a Spanish hospital
They have been told by medics they need to remain on Tenerife for at least eight weeks until George, who weighed 3lb when he was born, is strong enough to fly home
Cai had been off playing a sunny round of golf when Alis first noticed the signs of labour.
They then went to two different hospitals before she gave birth to George, who weighed 3lb, at the University Hospital of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in Tenerife by c-section.
He said: ‘It was meant to be a relaxing break before we kicked into gear. We’ve just moved house, so we haven’t finished the nursery. Obviously, we thought we had another three months.’
Alis said the unexpected arrival was ‘stressful’ because of being abroad and Cai was forced to wait in a corridor while their son was born – but George is now in a stable condition and doing well.
‘The language barrier was a bit of a struggle. I couldn’t see Cai, and Cai couldn’t see me,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know anything about the baby, and no-one could understand me.’
Alis added: ‘To come home he will need to be breathing independently, gaining weight and also feeding independently with a bottle – not feeding through a tube.
‘We have been told it can be up and down and to keep an open mind, It just depends how well he does.’
Cai said he was left in the dark while George was being born which he described as ‘scary’.
He said: ‘I had no signal on my phone and my phone was dying. When Alis went down for the c-section I wasn’t allowed in, I was just in the corridor waiting not knowing what was going on.
Alis said: ‘To come home George will need to be breathing independently, gaining weight and also feeding independently with a bottle – not feeding through a tube’
Cai said he was left in the dark while George was being born which he described as ‘scary’
‘The next thing I saw was George going past in an incubator with lights flashing, so that was scary. I had everyone ringing me asking what was going on and I had no idea.’
But he was able to hold George five days after he was born. ‘It was so amazing. It helped us realise for the first time that we actually have a baby, it gave us such a boost,’ he said.
‘We were told to keep reading to him, so I quickly tried to download Kindle on my phone. The only thing I could get was Harry Potter, so I was sat there reading Harry Potter to a five-day-old baby.’
The couple, of Llanelli, West Wales, thanked well-wishers who have already donated more than £3,000 to the costs of their stay in Spain so they can remain together as a family.
Cai said: ‘We felt uneasy because we’re not the type of people to ask for help. We’re so grateful. It’s just beyond our wildest dreams.’
