Boyfriend's desperate plea to fly critically ill teacher back to Ireland after her heart stopped three times and she suffered a stroke

The boyfriend of an Irish teacher who is fighting for life in a Dubai hospital has raised more than £50,000 following a desperate plea to bring her home.

Aisling Brady, 26, from Trim, collapsed at school in the UAE, suffering a head injury, three seizures, three cardiac arrests and a stroke due to a pulmonary embolism.

The Physics and Maths teacher was rushed to hospital on November 27 after she was knocked out for three minutes due to fainting in the classroom.

Her family asked for support to fly Ms Brady back to Ireland in an Air Ambulance via a GoFundMe page set upon Wednesday.

After being put in an ambulance and quickly transported to hospital, Ms Brady's condition deteriorated - she had three seizures while on the journey.

Pulmonary Embolism

A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs, known as the pulmonary artery.

Usually a blood clot, the blockage can be life-threatening because it can stop blood from reaching your lungs.

The symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include:

• Chest pain – a sharp, stabbing pain that may be worse when you breathe in

• Shortness of breath – which can come on suddenly or develop gradually

• Coughing – this is usually dry, but may include coughing up blood or mucus that contains blood

• Feeling faint, dizzy or passing out

At hospital she then had three cardiac arrests in quick succession, and a stroke, caused by a number of clots in her brain, her boyfriend Kristian Mansfield explained on the fundraising page.

The cause of her condition, Mr Mansfield said, was a pulmonary embolism that had formed in her leg over a long period of time, before rushing up to her heart and catching in her lungs.

Ms Aisling moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2016 and it is understood that frequent long-haul flights since the move caused the embolism to move rapidly.

Since Wednesday, Mr Mansfield and Ms Brady's family have raised more than £50,000 (€60,000) of their £70,000 (€80,000) goal.

Mr Mansfield set up a fundraising page in the hope of transporting Ms Brady from Dubai in an Air Ambulance, which will fly at a low altitude, around 10,000 feet, and is essentially "a hospital in the sky". She will have a cardiac specialist, neurological specialist, doctor and nurses on board.

Writing on the page, Mr Mansfield said: "We are extremely lucky to be able to start this page today, as just over two weeks ago we were given no hope. If the ambulance was a minute later, we wouldn't be here."

"We are praying that soon we can leave the acute phase, which currently totals sixteen days.

"Everybody that knows Aisling understands she is resilient, driven, stubborn and tenacious and she will not settle for anything less than getting her life back up to speed.

"With the right help and support, there is every hope we can together get her back to her loving and caring self."