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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAA pharmacist told her to go to hospital and she was informed she would not be able to fly home
Neil Shaw Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)
07:30, 03 Jul 2026Updated 10:11, 03 Jul 2026
A young woman’s holiday turned to horror when her “eye bags” turned out to be a mystery infection that left her hospitalised in Zakynthos, Greece and unable to fly home. Phoenix McPike was just two days into a week-long trip with her friend when she noticed her left eye had formed a ‘bag’ underneath – as though she were tired.
But when she woke up the following morning, it had swelled dramatically and she struggled to see out of it. Red patches and swelling also appeared on her face, worrying the Phoenix.
She went to a local pharmacy, who immediately told her to go to hospital, fearing she had been bitten by a mosquito and was suffering a reaction. There, doctors treated her with steroid IVs and antihistamines, but it didn’t appear to be an allergic reaction.
They were baffled by the cause, but told her she had a cheek, jaw, ear, chest, lip, sinus and lymph node infection – and couldn’t fly home. “I was devastated,” said Phoenix, a drama graduate from Diss, Norfolk.
“My friend was unable to stay in Greece, so I was very worried about being alone. It was nerve-wracking to be essentially stranded in an unfamiliar country – especially as it was my first time in Greece.”
Fortunately, her partner was able to fly out to care for her throughout the extended stay. It came just days after the seemingly innocent first symptom – bags under one of her eyes.
Phoenix said: “I noticed on one of the evenings what I thought looked like a heavy eye bag. I didn’t think much of it. I thought it could’ve been sun poisoning initially, but I felt well within myself and wasn’t concerned. I went to sleep and the next morning noticed that I couldn’t see very well out of my left eye, so went to look in the bathroom mirror when I noticed it was severely swollen and was almost closed.
“I went to hotel staff to see if they had a medical team onsite and they were visibly concerned and told me to go to a pharmacy.”
From there, the ordeal progressed, and despite three steroid IVs and rounds of antihistamines, doctors still don’t know what triggered the infection. Phoenix said: “I know a lot have people [online] believe it was my eyelash extensions, however I don’t believe this and neither did the doctors.”
She noted that she removed her eyelash extensions and the infection continued to progress, with still only one eye affected. Doctors never got to the bottom of what had caused the infection, nor what specific infection she was suffering from, but Phoenix finally got the all-clear.
After returning home on 14 June – nine days after being admitted to hospital, and five days late than planned – she has recovered well and is now “fully healed”.
Phoenix, who had travel insurance, added: “When I finally got the all-clear to fly, I was ecstatic. My face literally lit up with relief, as being in limbo and not knowing when I’d be cleared was one of the scariest parts of the ordeal.
“I’m gutted I missed so much of my holiday, but also very grateful that I was able to access medical care, and not have to worry about the costs that came with being treated. I will definitely visit Greece again – it’s a beautiful country and I don’t see what happened to me as being tied to having gone to Greece.
“I think it was just a very unfortunate event that could happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time.”