A British pensioner who had a heart attack in the desert and spent three months fighting for his life in critical care in Worksop is now stuck paying a £20k NHS bill for the rest of his life.

Steve Foreman, 73, was living and working on an oil rig in Ogaden, Ethiopia when he collapsed and suffered a heart attack at the age of 62.

The army veteran was airlifted to the nearest hospital in Nairobi, Kenya and then suffered a catastrophic cardiac arrest and slipped into a coma for 13 days.

He was on a kidney dialysis machine, given a tracheotomy and had a blood transfusion as he had suffered total organ failure and several infections.

Steve Foreman at the Cenotaph, London. Steve is a British pensioner who had a heart attack in the desert and spent three months fighting for his life in critical care. He is now stuck paying a £20k NHS bill for the rest of his life. Photo: Steve Foreman / SWNS.

placeholder image — Steve Foreman at the Cenotaph, London. Steve is a British pensioner who had a heart attack in the desert and spent three months fighting for his life in critical care. He is now stuck paying a £20k NHS bill for the rest of his life. Photo: Steve Foreman / SWNS.

After three months of critical care in Nairobi, he was flown back to the UK and transferred to Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop so that his brother, Grant – whom he says asked the NHS to confirm he was eligible for free treatment – could care for him.

After being stable, he was transferred to Doncaster Royal Infirmary for tracheotomy surgery.

But when he finally came out of the hospital after about two months he was slapped with a £20,000 bill from the NHS.

The British citizen, who had been working in Africa and the Middle East for the last 20 years but originally served in the British army, was shocked as he was under the impression he wouldn't have to pay.

He was informed that he was not entitled to services under the NHS or failed to provide evidence he was entitled – as he had been working outside the UK for more than two years.

Steve, from Stepney but who now lives in Croydon, south London, said: “We kicked up about this and got our local MP and the Veterans’ Foundation to help.

“Our MP got onto the Department for Health and Social Security and they said I am an overseas visitor and have to pay.

“I was on a walking frame as I had lost use of my muscles after all that time in hospital.

“I eventually got better but they put me into the hands of a debt collector. I said - 'I’m not paying; that’s not our problem.’”

Steve was born in the UK, and worked until he was 19 when he joined the British Army.

Afterwards he worked on security contracts in Africa and the Middle East for security risk management companies and was supplying security management risk on an oil rig in the desert when he was taken ill.

The father-of-two was flown back to the UK and had seven laser correction surgeries to attempt to fix the emergency tracheotomy he was given in Kenya which he says had gone wrong followed by rehabilitation.

But when he came out of hospital he was slapped with the bill.

Steve's brother, Grant, 65, is adamant that he was informed by NHS staff that if he had worked in the country for 10 years continuously and paid national insurance, he wouldn't have to pay.

They have now been told that this is under the condition it was not more than two years ago – a rule Grant claims he was not told at the time.

Steve says after he was threatened with court action he was made to complete a financial statement self-assessment which worked out his income and outgoings and decided he could afford to pay £50 a month.

He did this for four years and paid around £1,800 before receiving a letter in 2019 telling him to put the money into a different account –

and fearing it was a scam he stopped paying.

He returned to Africa where his daughter, now 17, and former wife were living and continued to work.

He says he was chased by the debt collector but didn't want to pay as he thought it was “morally wrong”.

But when he returned to the UK last year for his daughter's studies and registered with a doctor's surgery he was threatened with legal action by debt collectors unless he continued to pay.

Now Steve will continue to pay £50 a month for the next 30 years.

He says he is on pension credit after being made homeless in May 2024 when he was evicted.

He now lives with his daughter – who is studying for her A-levels – in temporary housing provided by Lambeth Council and says he is “right on the breadline at the end of each month”.

“Anytime I want to buy new clothes I have to think about this,” he said.

He continued: “I’m fed up paying it.

“I have spoken to a solicitor who said I shouldn’t be paying.

“I am an army veteran; I served my country twice in Northern Ireland and served in Berlin and yet there are people who get off the boats and get free NHS treatment.

“I owe £18,000 to the NHS and I’m broke and 73 and will never work again. I just want them to drop the debt.

“I have now contacted the collectors and I'm not paying anymore regardless of what they do to me.

“On humanitarian grounds the NHS should stop charging me.”

A spokesperson for Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “As an NHS organisation, we are legally required to follow national regulations and guidance when assessing whether a person is entitled to free healthcare.

“These standards are set out in law and based on residency, not nationality.

“As such, British citizens who live abroad may be charged for some services, depending on their individual circumstances and the type of care provided.

“We are committed to applying these legal duties fairly and consistently, and to ensuring that all patients receive any urgent or immediately necessary treatment.”