Couple forced to pay $30K bill while on holiday after their baby dies

It was supposed to be a relaxing babymoon before their baby arrived for Chloe Sullivan and fiancé Michael Parrott and Chloe's four-year-old daughter.

But during their dream vacation to the Dominican Republic, Chloe had to take an emergency trip to the hospital to have a C-section to deliver her baby, named Arlo, who later died due to “respiratory problems and persistent pulmonary hypertension”.

Little Arlo had immediately been taken to a neonatal ward without his parents getting a chance to see him.

But the tragedy didn’t end there as the family were not allowed to leave the paradise island until they paid the $30,000 hospital bill, their travel insurance did not cover.

Worse still, the hospital threatened to dispose of little Arlo’s body unless his parents paid $5,100 on the day of his death.

Chloe’s father helped them pay off this amount, but they were then told they could not leave until they settled the final hospital bill of $29,500 despite originally being quoted half this amount.

“Chloe’s four-year-old daughter was with them the whole time, I can’t imagine how scared she must have felt,” Michael’s cousin Harry Cottam, who set up a GoFundMe page for the couple, told Newscorp.

“The hospital threatened to contact Interpol and said that if they did not hand over their passports they would ensure they could not leave the country,” he added.

The couple reportedly offered to pay in instalments but the hospital refused. They also weren’t allowed to leave their room, which was under police and security guard.

Thankfully, Harry’s GoFundMe page surpassed its goal and the couple were able to pay their bill and have their passports returned.

“We just want to say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to all of our friends, family and people we don’t know who have generously donated to allow us the opportunity to receive both mine and Arlo’s medical records, my passport and the medication I need to allow me on a flight back home,” Chloe wrote on the fund’s page.

“In a very dark and hard time you have helped to shine a little ray of light and given us the breathing space to start to grieve for our son.”