Tyler Perry pays medical expenses for couple stranded in Mexico
After the newly engaged pair's dream vacation turned into a 'nightmare,' Perry swoops in and saves the day
After hearing about an Atlanta couple who were stranded in Mexico after they couldn’t pay a $14,000 medical bill, Tyler Perry came to their rescue.
Tyler Perry is doing the Lord’s work.
After hearing about an Atlanta couple who were stranded in Mexico after they couldn’t pay a $14,000 medical bill, a source told PEOPLE that Perry came to their rescue.
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Tori Austin and fiancé Stephen Johnson were on a Carnival Dream cruise when Johnson, 31, became ill. Johnson was later diagnosed with pancreatitis and diabetes, according to WGCL. He was admitted and treated at a hospital in Progreso, Mexico and spent several days in intensive care.
His hospital visit would prove to be costly as the couple didn’t spring for traveler’s insurance while planning the cruise. Neither did the couple have medical insurance. To make matters worse, when Austin asked the hospital if she could work out a payment plan for the expense and return to the U.S., the hospital denied her request. The two were told that they could not leave until the bill was paid.
Austin told WGCL that hospital staff not only did not trust them to make those payments but actually locked their windows to keep them from trying to escape the facility. If they still managed to do so, staffers warned that police would be called.
“It’s been a nightmare. We just want to come home,” Austin told WGCL. The station reported Johnson added: “[It’s] hell. I very much so am a hostage.”
Perry learned about their situation on Good Morning America and reached out to help. PEOPLE reported that Perry is going to help the couple out by springing for their travel and the medical expenses.
Seems like a perfect end to a horrible story… right?
Well, not exactly.
Over the weekend, a hospital official said no money had yet been received. The official did tell NBC News that international transfers routinely take a few days to arrive.
That still didn’t stop Austin from giving Perry social media props on Sunday.
“Today I am thankful for and will always be thankful for Tyler Perry,” she wrote on Facebook. “My mom was also a huge fan of his.”
Austin added in another post that the hospital staff said they could leave on Monday. She also stressed that their ordeal would not prevent them from making a return trip to Mexico.
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“I love MEXICO and the Culture,” Austin wrote. “I’ll be back again but will leave on my own terms. We have no ill feelings for the country or the people, just this hospital.”
