GO AD-FREE. Get 2 Months Digital Subscription for ONLY £1! Use code 2FOR1
GET STARTEDMore on KentOnline
GO AD-FREE. Get 2 Months Digital Subscription for ONLY £1! Use code 2FOR1
GET STARTEDMore on KentOnline
A young entrepreneur has had her world turned upside down after being struck down with a potentially fatal health condition on a flight to Chile.
Hannah Farley-Hills, from Faversham, was travelling as part of a work trip when she suffered a pulmonary embolism - a blockage in her lungs.
She had to be rushed to hospital and was in intensive care for several days and while the 25-year-old is now out of danger she could have to remain in Santiago for a month as it is not safe for her to fly.
That means Hannah, who runs HFH Productions, is unable to get back to Kent in time to launch her company's debut theatre shows The Naughty Fox and ...If We've Never Been To The Moon?
Created in collaboration with James Baldwin, they are due to be shown at 12 venues across the UK starting next week.
Hannah said: "Last week, whilst travelling to Chile with another theatre company, I had a pulmonary embolism and DVT.
"I was in intensive care for a few days and it all got quite scary, but I am now fully in recovery and will be fine.
"The problem is that the doctors think my embolism was due, in part, to the long haul flight.
"So, I am now not allowed to fly home until February 15."
Hannah, who set up the company after completing a two-year Creative Projects traineeship at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, is hoping to raise enough money through the Natwest Back Her Business Scheme for female entrepreneurs to pay for someone to fill her role on the tour.
"I'm so incredibly proud of this project and the people that have worked on it," she said.
"There have been video designers, lighting designers, sound designers, movement directors, performers, production managers, technicians, consultants, doctors, deaf community members and supporters all in and out of the rehearsal.
"The amount of hours, effort and passion that have gone in to each aspect of the shows has been enormous.
"There is no option for it not to happen.
"The project has so much potential and needs to reach the people that it has been designed to benefit all around the UK."
More than 50 people have already supported the appeal, raising £4,000.
Hannah, who is a familiar face to many from her stints working behind the bar at Rodmersham Squash Club, added: "I would also like to thank everyone that helped us so far.
"The generous donors, the tour venues, the industry bodies who have offered advice, the incredible Moon and Fox team, and my family who have been researching cruise ships, freight trains, and all manner of other ways to get me home."
