Rhianna Benson
A British mum was recently plunged into holiday hell, after a family snorkelling trip descended into a life-threatening diagnosis, and saw her slip into a three-day coma.
Rebecca Roskilly had booked a well deserved, week-long vacation to Marmaris in Turkey with her husband Vincent and their four children for July 2025, having planned a wide-range of activities to please all attendees.
Towards the end of the trip, the 30-year-old took her family out on a boat trip, with the group scheduled to enjoy some snorkelling off the coast.
Despite arranging the exciting excursion, Roskilly reportedly avoided throwing herself underwater to take a look at the view below, having been diagnosed with tinnitus some years prior.
Advert
The condition describes the permanent ringing of sounds that do not come from an outside source.
In Roskilly's case, she'd received her diagnosis a decade earlier, having burst her ear drum whilst scuba diving.
Despite attempting to keep her head above water as the holiday continued, she began enduring excruciating pain within her ears. The ringing sound that Roskilly had grown accustomed to over the years also intensified.
Advert
"I've always had it on and off but the doctors back home don't seem too keen to do much," she told press of the sound. "I thought it could be something to do with the boat trip."
With four young children, however, the North Yorkshire mum put her discomfort down to simply having boisterous kids.
"Lots of things can trigger it but mainly noise and if I get water into it. I do try to avoid getting water in my ear," Roskilly continued.
"My children are very noisy so they add to the tinnitus so I thought maybe I just need some peace and quiet. I'm no stranger to ear pain so I did not think it was going to progress into this.
Advert
The family's fears sky-rocketed to new heights on the last day of the vacation, however, when Roskilly suddenly lost conscious as the group prepared to venture off to a local waterpark.
"The day before we were meant to go home we had a trip to the waterpark planned and I said to my husband, 'My ear is still doing my head in so I won't be able to enjoy it. You take the girls and I'll stay at home with the baby'," the self-employed baker recalled.
"My husband was like, 'I don't think I'm going to do that because you just don't look right'.
Advert
"We were told that if he had done that he would've come back to a dead body."
After hotel staff called an ambulance, Roskilly was rushed to a local emergency room, where doctors quickly ascertained that she was battling bacterial meningitis, and was suffering a swelling of the brain.
Medics attempted to assess the cause of the issue, but the distressed mother admits she was 'confused', which resulted in her 'getting aggressive and lashing out'.
Advert
After she was sedated by staff, Roskilly drifted into a coma that would last three days.
Whilst asleep, medics operated on the her eardrum, having suspected that she'd developed an ear infection prior to leaving the UK.
"Then I woke up properly and immediately was confused where my husband and children were and what was going on and realised my arms and legs were strapped to my bed," she remembered. "It was shocking. I didn't believe it when they said three days. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."
Roskilly went on to confess: "I was terrified waking up hearing about brain swelling because my dad died of a haemorrhage to the brain. I thought, 'Oh my god, I'm going to die'. I was panicking.
"They did a procedure on my ear and it was excruciating because they sawed my ear drum."
The family were due to return to the UK on 3 July, yet the family-of-six remain in Turkey, with Roskilly still attached to an IV drop and being prescribed regular painkillers.
Her family members have since set up a GoFundMe account in a bid to supply the group with the funds they're missing out on whilst unable to return to work.
"We're just stranded here," she claimed. "They're going to try and get me on a normal flight but they're going to get me airport assistance.
"I'm able to do little walks but as far as getting around an airport I don't think I'll be able to do that."