A Rotorua dairy worker is facing medical costs of about $70,000 after his father, who had flown from India to help the family through a difficult twin pregnancy, suffered a stroke and had to be airlifted to Auckland.

Gurjeet Singh and his wife have four children, including twin boys who are about three months old. His wife had stopped working after complications during her pregnancy, and his parents arrived from India at the end of May, before the twins were born.

“My wife was due. We had twin boys,” Gurjeet said. “They came to help and look after us.”

His father, Charanjeet Singh, suffered a stroke on the night of September 13 and was taken from the dairy farm to Rotorua Hospital before being airlifted to Auckland.

His father then spent two days and two nights in an Auckland hospital as doctors treated him, but the medical emergency was followed by another shock when the family began getting an idea of what the treatment would cost.

Gurjeet said the family had been given a rough estimate of about $70,000 for the medical costs. His friends have since launched a Givealittle appeal to help cover the treatment costs. As of October 7, it had raised $5,416 from 67 donors.

His father was visiting New Zealand and did not have medical insurance, so the family is having to pay the bill themselves. When Gurjeet spoke to Awaaz, he already had an Auckland hospital bill of a little over $14,000, while the final Rotorua bill was still to come.

Gurjeet works in dairy farming, has lived in New Zealand since 2010 and is a permanent resident, while his wife had been working before the pregnancy but stopped as complications developed.

His father is from Karnal in India and is a retired Indian Army soldier who served in the Armoured Corps.

On Monday night, Charanjeet boarded a flight back to India for further treatment. Gurjeet said medical information was shared with Malaysia Airlines.

“They reviewed it and a team of medical specialists visited to check on him. They agreed to transport him, providing whatever help is needed.”

He said his father travelled in premium economy and, once back in India, the family planned to take him to an army hospital.

Gurjeet was also candid about how his father came to be in New Zealand without medical insurance. “It was missed by mistake,” he said.

He said an insurance plan had, in fact, been sent when his parents’ tickets were organised, but amid the difficult pregnancy, the arrival of the twins and the demands of working on a dairy farm, it was never completed.

“When they came, the person who arranged the tickets sent an insurance plan,” he said. By then, the farm had also entered its calving period. “With the cows calving, we got busy,” he said.

Asked directly whether the insurance had simply been forgotten, he replied, “It just got overlooked.” He also recalled how expensive the last-minute air tickets had been.

The family is now hoping the fundraiser can help bridge the gap as Gurjeet supports his wife and four children while preparing to take his father back to India for further treatment.