A Moncton couple previously stranded in Orlando, Florida, received confirmation that they will be flown back to New Brunswick this week after the husband was injured and unable to be flown home due to a lack of hospital beds. hospital.
Patricia Bates and Joseph Guthro left New Brunswick on March 14 on a bus trip to Florida.
On March 28, Guthro got up to use the bathroom on board the bus, and a car stopped in front of the tour bus, forcing the driver to slam on the brakes.
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Guthro fell, compressing a disk into his body. After tests at the hospital, the Orlando care center admitted him.
“I just want to get home and get into a bed so I can get some rehab,” Guthro said last week. “My left leg hurts.”
Bates told Global News on Wednesday that after working through his travel insurance, the two will fly back this weekend, where they will stay home and try to receive home care.
The two are still trying to find hospital care in the province.
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Guthro hopes to find a bed at the Stan Cassidy Center for Rehabilitation (SCCR) in Fredericton or at Moncton Hospital, so that he can undergo rehabilitation.
Guthro served seven years in the military, according to Bates. His wife said that mobility had increased significantly since the fall, but that they will continue to seek rehabilitation.
The Stan Cassidy Rehabilitation Center only has 20 beds, and they were told they were all taken.
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The couple spent days on the phone seeking help from their member of Parliament, Global Affairs Canada and the Province of New Brunswick.
He worries how many Canadians are stranded across the border, hoping to receive medical care at home.
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