Aberfoyle Park woman Rachel Hodgkinson’s US holiday hell as ‘toxic shock’ leaves her in Las Vegas hospital

An Aberfoyle Park man has told of his desperate moves to save his wife after what was supposed to be a romantic trip overseas almost turned deadly.

Rachel Hodgkinson, who fell seriously ill while on holiday in Las Vegas, with her partner of 10 years, Darryl Kelcey. Picture: Supplied

What was meant to be an enjoyable trip to Las Vegas to celebrate their 10-year anniversary soon turned into a nightmare for Rachel Hodgkinson and Darryl Kelcey.

The loved-up couple arrived in Sin City on January 20 after flying through Fiji and Los Angeles.

Having visited before, Ms Hodgkinson and Mr Kelcey had plans to celebrate their love as well as Mr Kelcey’s 56th birthday but they never did.

“It’s taken me a good week to get over the shock myself,” the Aberfoyle Park man told The Advertiser.

Rachel and Darryl visited Las Vegas to celebrate their anniversary and Darryl’s birthday. Picture: Supplied

But when Rachel hadn’t gone to the toilet in over five days she started to feel extremely unwell. Picture: Supplied

Ms Hodgkinson, who is a pharmacy assistant and support worker, hadn’t gone to the toilet for five days, despite taking medications.

“She went to shower, came out and was all yellow,” Mr Kelcey, who is a salesperson and Uber driver, said.

“She was weak, shaking, couldn’t hold her own body weight, couldn’t stand up, so I helped her to the bed.

“I was talking to her and when asking her what was wrong she couldn’t understand what I was saying.

“She was in a delusional state.”

He immediately called an ambulance.

“I honestly thought she was having a stroke,” he said.

She was rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center were doctors began treating her for constipation, dehydration and an extremely low blood pressure.

Darryl called an ambulance for his partner after she got out of the shower and was completely yellow and delusional. Picture: Supplied

Doctors described Ms Hodgkinson, 53, as having fallen into “toxic shock”.

“All the toxins in her body … sent her into this really bad delusional state where she didn’t where she was, who she was, she didn’t who I was and she couldn’t communicate,” Mr Kelcey said.

“All she could do was moan and groan.”

Mr Kelcey said at that point he thought his partner “wasn’t going to make it”.

“I thought, this is not happening, she was in such a bad way,” the 56-year-old said.

Doctors said she was suffering with “toxic shock”. Picture: Supplied

Rachel is still currently in hospital. Picture: Supplied

Ms Hodgkinson has spent 11 days in hospital so far.

“They (medical staff) were basically pumping in good stuff to push the bad stuff out,” Mr Kelcey said.

“By the eighth day she started to slowly speak some words … she started to get some kind of brain function back and some kind of control.”

Now, Ms Hodgkinson is speaking clearly, knows who she is and who Mr Kelcey is.

The couple were only meant to stay in Las Vegas until February 4 but are still there, with plans to stay at least another two weeks.

“I’m paying for hotel rooms, food, extra obviously from what we originally budgeted for,” Mr Kelcey said.

“Obviously there’s going to be a giant hospital bill at the end of all this, that I’ll probably never be able to pay in my lifetime.”

While the couple bought travel insurance, Mr Kelcey said the company refused to cover Ms Hodgkinson’s treatment because they failed to appropriately declare her past medical history.

“At this stage I’m not concerned about it as all I’m concerned about is Rachel’s health and getting her home,” Mr Kelcey said.

“The rest of it can sort itself out later … the main factor is getting her well enough, getting her on a plane and getting her home.”

If you’d like to support Ms Hodgkinson, you can here.