E.coli woman Caroline Hope returns to Scotland - BBC News
Caroline Hope is back home in Scotland after campaigners raised money for a private medical evacuation.
Caroline Hope became gravely ill after contracting E.coli during cancer treatment in Turkey

A Scottish woman who contracted E.coli while undergoing treatment for cancer in a Turkish hospital has returned to Glasgow.

Caroline Hope, who is from Clydebank, had been working as an English teacher in the country when she fell ill.

Her family had feared she would not survive after contracting the bacteria and launched a JustGiving page to raise money for her return to Scotland.

That appeal raised more than £31,000 to pay for a private medical evacuation.

The fundraising appeal was in response to UK government guidelines that strictly limit the repatriation of UK citizens for medical reasons.

On arrival at the airport, Caroline Hope was taken by ambulance to a hospital in the city. She will eventually be moved to the Beatson cancer treatment centre.

Before being diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, Caroline Hope had been teaching English at an international school in Turkey.

She had planned to return to Scotland and her employer had taken out medical insurance to cover her stay at the Medical Park Hospital in Izmir until the end of July.

Caroline Hope was transferred from the plane to an ambulance at Glasgow Airport

However, her recovery was undermined when she became infected with E.coli during an operation to remove a tumour last month.

Her mother, Catherine Hope, had been due to fly out to Turkey on Thursday but was told to stay in Scotland after the money needed to bring her daughter home was raised within hours of the appeal being launched.

Catherine Hope said: "She thought she was going to die. She wants home. She said she thought her body was giving up on her.

"But when she got on the plane, my son Scott sent me a picture of her, and she was smiling."

Scott Hope, Caroline's brother, told the BBC that doctors in Turkey had been in contact with doctors at the Beatson cancer treatment centre in Glasgow and that they were expecting his sister to be admitted there once she returned to Scotland.

He added that any money raised above and beyond that required to get Ms Hope back home would be donated to the Beatson.

Writing on the JustGiving page, Caroline Hope's friend Bella Shek wrote: "We've smashed our target, unbelievable!

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you so much. We can now get Caroline home.

"On behalf of Caroline, her family and all her friends, the support from all of you and the general public, many of whom have never met Caroline before, has been truly overwhelming."