Mum's 'holiday from hell' in Greece sparked life-changing career shift
Anna May says the pain she endured was like 'full-blown labour".
What should have been a relaxing family break in the sun turned into a terrifying ordeal for one British mum – ending in emergency surgery, the loss of an ovary, and, a life-changing decision.
Anna May, 49, from Wiltshire, jetted off to Crete looking forward to a week of sunshine and quality time with her husband and two sons. The family had checked into a luxurious villa near the city of Chania, complete with a private pool and scenic views.
But just days into the holiday, Anna was struck down by what she describes as "the most horrific pain (she'd) ever experienced".
'It was like full-blown labour. With no warning. So literally went from like zero to 100 in terms of pain,' she told the Mirror.
Anna, a keen swimmer and active mum, had felt perfectly fine before the trip – aside from some difficulty losing weight around her stomach, which she assumed was due to perimenopause. But that morning in Crete, she could barely stand.
Her husband and sons called emergency services, and Anna was rushed to hospital through the mountains. 'Being in that amount of agony was terrifying enough, but being in a foreign country made things even more scary,' she recalled.
Doctors initially believed she had appendicitis, but scans revealed something unexpected: a huge ovarian cyst. 'I had no clue it was there", she said.
She was quickly prepped for emergency surgery – but language barriers made an already frightening situation even harder. 'Before going into surgery, I had to sign a consent form, and they said to me, 'We're so sorry, Anna, but it's in Greek. So you just have to trust us.' I was like, I am in so much pain that you know what, I've just signed it.'
When she woke up, she was hit with more shocking news. 'The next thing I knew, I woke up and they said, 'Sorry, when we removed the cyst, we also had to remove an ovary as well.''
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'I was just blown away, really,' she said. 'It almost felt like a bit of a dream, because I was like, 'I just cannot believe this is happening, you know. Two days ago, I was lying on the beach, now I'm lying in a hospital bed in a foreign country with no ovary.''
With her recovery just beginning, Anna was desperate to get home, but doctors made it clear she wasn't fit to travel. Her family had to rebook flights and extend their stay.
'It was just a very, very scary experience… to have been in a country and be completely unexpected was kind of another level, really.'
Back home, Anna needed six weeks off work to recover, which gave her time to reflect – not just on her health, but on her life. She had been working part-time in admin at a company where she felt dismissed and undervalued.
'Everybody in the office felt like they were being undermined all the time, and it was really sad actually… I just got to the point that I thought, 'I'm just not prepared to put up with that anymore. You know, I know I'm capable, and I don't deserve to be treated like that.''
She handed in her notice and took a bold new step: starting her own coaching business to help others find clarity and purpose in midlife.
Now a mindset and manifestation coach, Anna helps others 'shift their perspective on life' and regain self-belief. 'I think my story is a good example of that – to be a positive spin on everything and take the goodness out of situations and use it to drive you forward rather than keeping you held back.'
While the Greek island holds bittersweet memories, Anna hasn't ruled out returning. 'At the moment, (my sons) aren't that keen on returning. I think for them it was really hard… they end up spending their holiday in the ward, checking that I'm okay.
"We will return, we definitely will, but I think it almost needed a few years for us all to kind of get over the experience and connect with the happy memories of it rather than the traumatic event."
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8 hours ago
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Mum's 'holiday from hell' in Greece sparked life-changing career shift
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