Couple faces $13,000 in medical expenses after a costly error on their inaugural cruise

Khiali Baxter experienced severe illness during her first cruise

A Texas couple faced a substantial bill after their cruise vacation became a nightmare.

Khiali Baxter was enjoying her inaugural Royal Caribbean cruise with her boyfriend when the situation drastically worsened.

Baxter became severely ill just two days into the voyage from Galveston to Mexico, causing her to drift 'in and out of consciousness'.

However, this was only the beginning of the ordeal.

“So, I woke up. I started vomiting up blood, unfortunately, and I had passed out on the ground,” she said in an interview with KHOU. “I could feel myself kind of going in and out of consciousness. I was very cold and terrified.”

During her ordeal, she was taken to the emergency room on the ship, where it was discovered she had a gastrointestinal bleed that caused her hemoglobin levels to fall to critically low levels.

While on vacation with her boyfriend, Khiali Baxter began vomiting blood (KHOU 11)

As noted in a GoFundMe for Baxter, the bleeding was ongoing, putting her in a life-threatening situation.

Baxter, described as ‘one of the youngest police officers in America’, had to endure a four-hour wait on the ship before it docked at Costa Maya, allowing her to be transported to a hospital in Mexico.

However, Baxter alleges that the ambulance bypassed other hospitals to take her to a 'private and very specific hospital'.

She mentioned that upon her arrival via ambulance, they 'demanded $2,500' just to conduct an examination.

Subsequently, the expenses continued to increase.

Her parents were contacted and asked for payment so the hospital could treat her. According to her father, Craig, they were informed that the hospital would only provide care up to the amount of the deposit.

“I've never heard this in my life,” he said.

Fortunately, they managed to slow her bleeding and conduct an endoscopy and colonoscopy. However, Baxter claims she was left for nine hours before receiving blood and having her medical issue investigated.

When they couldn't determine the cause of her illness, she was discharged from the hospital.

The family later received an itemized bill of $9,970 from the hospital and a $4,048 bill from the cruise ship for onboard medical expenses.

They claim they have 'no idea' how the $9,000 figure was calculated.