A Brit holidaymaker has died in Bulgaria with his daughter told he was involved in an "altercation" with hospital security staff.
Roger Denis Grose, 68, from Caerphilly, South Wales, died in Plovdiv on June 19 with the provisional cause of death given as heart failure. His family said that he divided his time between the UK and Spain, and had travelled to Bulgaria by himself for a two week holiday.
His daughter Deborah Grose said she and her brother Wayne became concerned about her father when he did not respond to birthday and Father's Day messages. “I had messaged him on June 12 saying 'happy birthday' and he didn’t reply – he didn’t even see the message," said Deborah. "I thought maybe it was that his WiFi had gone – he didn’t like to turn his mobile data on because it cost money. So I thought I’d just wait until he was due back in Spain on June 19.
“June 19 came and he hadn’t opened the message. I messaged a friend of his out there and she hadn’t seen him so on Friday, June 21, I thought I would report him. So I rang the police here because I didn’t know what to do and while I was on the phone they knocked my door and that’s when they told me that they had been informed he had passed away.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) has confirmed they are aware of the death, reported WalesOnline. A spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Bulgaria and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Deborah said she has been made aware by the embassy that her father was involved in an altercation at the hospital before his death but some details are still unclear. She says that a post-mortem examination has been done but the family will not have the full results for weeks or even months.
“From what we have been told he phoned himself an ambulance because he was feeling dizzy and had a headache," she said. "They checked his vitals over and told him he was fine. We were then told he had the options to stay a few hours or discharge him.
"I’m not sure how long it was but we have been told that he then went back to the hospital saying he still didn’t feel well on the same day and from what I have been told there was an altercation with security because they refused to see him a second time.” Mr Grose’s family are unable to have his body back until the port-mortem examination results are completed. Describing her father she said: “He was such a character. Everyone who knows him, knows what a character he was.”
