Mother-of-two, 32, suffered devastating brain injury after fall in Poland - as sister launches fundraising bid to bring her back home to the UK

The family of a mother-of-two who went into a coma after having an unexplained seizure in Poland have launched a fundraiser in a desperate bid to bring her back home to the UK. 

Claire, 32, had no history of seizures or ill health when she suddenly collapsed to the floor while grocery shopping during a trip to see her husband's family this summer. 

The young family regularly drove over from England to visit Claire's husband, Grzesiek's, family in Poland, and arrived at their relatives on August 12. 

They decided to do a food shop on the first day of the holiday. But as Grzesiek went to get a trolley at the supermarket, he turned around to see his wife, who had been in good spirits just moments before, having a seizure - something she had never done before. 

Before he could reach her, she hit her head on the concrete floor hard as she fell backwards. 

The mother, from Essex, who works as an assistant manager for St Helena Hospice charity shops, was taken to hospital. 

But her condition worsened rapidly as doctors prepared her for emergency surgery, having discovered from a CT scan that she had a bleed on the brain. 

She underwent a four hour decompressive craniectomy to relieve the swelling and pressure, but remains in a deep coma in an intensive care unit (ICU) six weeks later. 

Claire (pictured) suddenly collapsed after an unexplained seizure while in Poland this summer

Claire and Grzesiek have been married for ten years and have two daughters, aged six and seven 

Despite having travel insurance with medical coverage, the family now face a bill of up to £45,000 to bring Claire back home via ambulance so that she can be with her family. 

Her sister, Sarah Barron, set up a GoFundMe to try and raise funds for the emergency repatriation, which the family hopes will take place as soon as a lung infection that Claire developed a month ago in hospital has cleared up. 

Heartbreakingly, her husband of ten years, Grzesiek had to return to the UK and leave Claire in order to take their daughters, aged six and seven, to school. 

Grzesiek also lives with an autoimmune disease, which he receives regular treatment for in the UK. Since Claire was his primary carer, the strain on the family from her absence has been 'immense', Claire's sister, Sarah, told the Daily Mail. 

'Grzesiek is actually very sick himself and has gone from Claire being his primary carer to now having to manage two young children on his own with his own health problems,' Sarah said. 

'I'm very thankful that my parents are living nearby, because they are a huge support for him and the girls. 

'But we do need to get Claire back as soon as possible - conscious or not - because she really does need to be back with her husband and her home.' 

Claire's children had stayed behind playing at their cousins' home when her seizure happened at the Polish supermarket. 

Claire pictured (left) with her sister Sarah (right), who set up a GoFundMe to try and repatriate her sister back to the UK

Claire pictured with her parents. They live close to the family in Essex and have been helping to look after their grandchildren while Claire has been in hospital overseas 

Their aunt said that while they are aware their mother is in hospital, they are confused and missing their mother dearly. 

Sarah said: 'The girls don't really know the full extent of what's going on - they understand that they haven't seen mummy for six weeks and that mummy's in hospital, and the doctors are trying to make her better. 

'But they don't know the full extent because they weren't allowed in the ICU. I flew over myself on August 17, shortly after the accident, and I have to say I agree with why the children weren't allowed in there.' 

The family are still in the dark as to Claire's long-term recovery. 

They still don't know the cause behind the sudden, unexplained seizure which caused her to collapse to the ground, nor do they know what the road ahead looks like. 

Sarah told the Mail that recent tests by doctors in Poland had showed no pupil reaction or pain stimuli, but that this would be hard to do until the swelling on Claire's brain had reduced significantly. 

'At the moment she's in a stable coma and it's not a medically induced coma - it's an actual trauma coma. They can't control the coma, it's her own body protecting itself, I guess.' 

She added: 'But the brain stem is allowing her to breathe on her own, and her organs are all functioning, so that's a huge positive. 

'All we can do is hope that it's a long road ahead, but that there is a road ahead, you know? She's one strong woman, my sister!' 

She added that while the British Embassy in Poland have so far been unable to help, the Polish hospital staff have been 'fantastic', as have the Hearts First ambulance service, who are helping to plan Claire's repatriation. 

The ambulance service are specialists in long distance repatriation, offering a 24/7 service and delivering over 300 transfers for patients overseas to the UK each month. 

The Daily Mail approached the Foreign Office for comment. 

• A link to the fundraiser for Claire can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-claire-home-to-uk.