The Zephyrhill family temporarily stuck on a cruise after daughter needed a medical emergency

Daughter Stephanie Combs needed to have her appendix removed, but the family did not have travel insurance.

TAMPA, Florida. Canceled flights before dangerous winter conditions are a holiday some families want to leave behind.

For one Zephyrhills family, it was a cruise that took a wrong turn during a stopover in Grand Turk.

“It’s a very, very beautiful country and everyone was happy here, but I’m ready to go home,” Stephanie Combs said.

Combs said her 13-year-old daughter Hailey had her appendix removed during their trip.

However, this would later be just one of several problems they encountered during their journey.

Combs said her family didn’t have travel insurance, meaning they had to pay out of pocket instead. In addition, their temporary passports issued after the operation were also coming to an end.

The family risked losing all their money and being stuck longer than they bargained for.

“If I had jumped on it, we wouldn’t be in this trouble,” Combs said of the insurance.

She said the insurance would have allowed her to fly with her daughter to the US to have the procedure — a trip that costs about $23,000 out of pocket, she said.

Combs said her daughter was upset about the medical expenses but assured her that the family would do everything they could to save her.

“We don’t care how much it costs,” Combs told her daughter. “If I hadn’t taken you to the doctor at Carnival, you might have died.”

Ahead of the medical emergency, Combs said the family had several colds but tested negative for COVID-19. In the end, her daughter developed a subfebrile temperature, but after taking medication, she felt better.

However, one day Combs said that Hayley vomited. She assumed her daughter had eaten too much ice cream until she received a call from an employee telling her that her daughter didn’t look well and needed to be taken to guest services.

When she saw her daughter, Combs said that Hailey was pale, clammy, and her eyes were “like a raccoon’s.”

Haley was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he underwent surgery. Combs said it was a “very long” hour and a half wait.

A family friend created GoFundMe to help the family with their finances.

In the end, the family said they were able to renew their temporary passports and board the Carnival Freedom ship back to Florida on Saturday.

Combs said the trip was in preparation for two years after a series of bad events affected their family, prompting them to deliver some joy.

“We had a long two years,” Combs said.

Although things didn’t go as planned, Combs said she’s grateful she can still spend time with her family after Hailey’s procedure.

Going forward, Combs said she plans to have her passports and travel insurance ready for her next vacation.

“The first thing I do when I get back to the states is apply for a passport,” Combs said.

A spokesman for Carnival Cruise Line issued the following statement:

“As usual, members of our care team and our port agent in Grand Turk provided support and assistance to the Combs family to the extent possible, including coordinating their return to the US aboard Carnival Freedom.”

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