A Johnsburg family is experiencing “every family’s worst nightmare” after they were left stranded in the Dominican Republic when the father suffered a brain clot and underwent emergency surgery.
Greg Dervis and Bonnie Dervis, along with their two children — Cole, a recent high school graduate, and Morgan, a 7-year-old — went on a vacation to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The Dervis family went on the trip with a group of approximately 30 people.
The group included 10 children who graduated from high school this year and the vacation had been over a year and a half in the making.
Family friend Anthony Vallone told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that it was the family’s first time traveling out of the country and they were “super excited.”
Greg Dervis felt sick when he landed in the country on July 6 and initially thought it was maybe due to the heat or food.
He woke up on the second day of the trip with a splitting headache and went to a medical site at the resort, Vallone said.
They evaluated Dervis and determined he needed to be transported to a local hospital by ambulance.
The hospital determined there was a bleeding cyst on his brain following a CT scan.
The hospital transferred Dervis to Santo Domingo, which is the capital of the Dominican Republic, to a more advanced hospital for emergency brain surgery in the middle of the night.
Dervis was placed in the intensive care unit. The surgery went well and doctors discovered a blood clot.
Dervis initially was not able to move half of his body but is now walking, Vallone said.
His wife Bonnie is staying with him in the hospital while their two children have since flown back home with the rest of the group, who left on Sunday.
“It was pretty hard for all of us to leave without them,” Vallone said.
The family had full travel insurance but it does not cover medical expenses.
Vallone said the hospital demanded $5,000 for the CT scan and $10,000 for the surgery, fees which had to be paid upfront before the services were performed.
The ICU admission was an additional $10,000. The hospital also would not accept their health insurance.
Greg and Bonnie remain at the hospital and cannot leave the country for six weeks due to the brain surgery, Vallone said.
The couple could leave immediately and go to a hospital in the United States if they were to take a medical flight, which is $50,000.
The experience has impacted the family financially and a GoFundMe account was created to help cover their expenses, which have totaled over $25,000 so far.
“Greg now faces a long and uncertain 6-week recovery in a foreign country,” said JD Sylvanus, a McHenry resident who started the fundraiser. “This kind of emergency is every family’s worst nightmare—especially so far from home.”
Vallone said that while Greg and Bonnie are “pretty strong” in the ordeal, their children are nervous and want their parents home.