A British mother was forced to pay £30,000 for a flight home to the UK after fracturing her skull on a marble hotel floor - as she mistakenly believed her family travel policy covered the trip. Lynn Smith, 59, had flown to Majorca with her family on 18 May to celebrate an early 60th birthday, continuing a long tradition of marking milestone birthdays abroad.But on 22 May, the retired NHS health and safety manager collapsed in her hotel reception after feeling faint.Lynn initially believed the dizziness was caused by the heat, but she fell backwards onto the marble tiles, fracturing her skull and suffering a bleed on the brain.She was rushed to hospital, where doctors identified the injuries before transferring her to a larger specialist hospital for emergency treatment. Her daughter, Rose Rushbrook, 34, explained: 'It was the morning, she'd had her breakfast, she was just walking up the hotel ramp to book a boat trip and she said she felt faint. Lynn Smith (R), 59, was left with a fractured skull after a hotel fall in Majorca - and her daughter Rose Rushbrook (L) was left to borrow £30,000 for her mother's medical flight home 'She's very healthy, she eats well and she doesn't drink alcohol so it was most likely just heat.'She added: 'It was in the reception [where] she hit the back of her head on the tiles.'That caused immediate swelling and her eye was really swollen while a bleed on the brain was trying to come out. It's been horrific really from that point.'Doctors later carried out two operations to stop the brain bleed and placed Lynn in a medically induced coma.On 24 May, she underwent an emergency craniectomy to relieve pressure on her brain.Lynn is now able to open her eyes but her daughter claims doctors are unsure what her recovery will look like.Rose, from Colchester, Essex, initially believed her mother's treatment was covered through her European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), but she later discovered it did not cover the cost of returning her to the UK.Because they live together, Rose also assumed her mother was covered under her family travel insurance. However, she discovered the policy is restricted to dependent children under the age of 18.As a result, Rose was forced to borrow £30,000 to fund a medical repatriation flight to bring her mother back to Colchester General Hospital on 9 June. While in Spain, Lynn underwent two surgeries to stop the brain breed, an emergency craniectomy to relieve pressure on her brain, and was placed into an induced coma She said: 'I managed to borrow some money to get the flights that we needed to repatriate her. It's not covered at all [by insurance] so it's cost £30,000.'I thought she was covered under my family [travel] insurance because we all live together, we just assumed.'I didn't look into the small print about it only being [people] who are under 18, so it was a bit of a small print issue.'She added: 'I left my dad out there who is in his 80s and we were having to pay for his hotel, which was working out at £1,000 a week, so we were burning through money.'It's been horrific. It's impossible to know right now [for recovery] but she can move her eyes and she responds to voices.'Since returning to the UK, Lynn remains in hospital, though a GoFundMe page created for her repatriation flight remains active to help repay the £30,000 initially borrowed to bring her home.It comes as British holidaymakers are facing growing healthcare costs abroad - with new NHS figures revealing millions of pounds are being spent on medical treatment across European hotspots.Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, obtained by travel insurance comparison site PayingTooMuch, shows UK holidaymakers racked up £181.7 million in overseas healthcare costs. In 2025 alone, more than 102,000 claims were made using EHIC and GHIC cards, highlighting how often Britons become ill or injured while travelling. Spain recorded the highest number of claims, with 41,454 cases worth £24.1 million, accounting for more than four in ten claims. Poland ranked second - despite being only the ninth most-visited destination for UK travellers.The country recorded 22,249 claims worth £5.3 million, placing it ahead of popular destinations such as France and Italy.