A BARNSLEY woman has been left heartbroken after missing the birth of her granddaughter due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East - and admits she has no idea when she and her friend will be able to return home.
Debbie Newsome, from Lundwood, and Jill Thomas, from Carlton, are currently stranded in Jomtien in Thailand due to their flights being cancelled by Emirates due to the conflict.
Debbie, 60, has heartbreakingly missed the birth of her granddaughter, Violet, due to the issues which have left them considering paying more than £2,000 for a flight which would see them have to travel from Bangkok to Korea, then to Orlando before arriving in Manchester two days later.
She told the Chronicle they are currently left ‘in limbo’ and have no idea when they’ll be able to return.
A teary-eyed Debbie said: “I came out here on December 3 for three months.
“My husband came out for a month and then Jill came out for the last 19 days.
“We’ve done a bit of travelling but we were due to fly out on Monday.
“Emirates didn’t tell us that our flight had been cancelled but we decided to go to the airport and no-one there was any help.
“Nobody has been any help for us.
“It’s terrifying.
“My granddaughter was born on Saturday but due on Monday.
“It’s heartbreaking.”
Jill’s brother-in-law Barry has been working to try and get the pair on a flight back but she admits that due to the sheer amount of cancellations, they have no idea when they’ll be able to return home.
“We were supposed to go out on a flight on Friday but we’ve been told that’s been cancelled now,” she said.
“Because we’re not in a country that classed as ‘unsafe’ we haven’t had the support others have but for us to get home we’d probably have to go through Dubai because the other flight would be £2,000.
“We don’t know when or how we’re going to get home.”
Debbie added: “We just want to get home to our families as soon as we can.
“We’re in no danger here and we know that but I’m dreading having to get back from Dubai.
“I’m not the best flyer as it is.”
