SIPPING a glass of cold white wine and looking out over the sparkling sea just moments from her new home, Wendy Williams thought all her dreams had come true.
The glamorous gran had fled chilly Wiltshire for the sunkissed shores of Kusadasi in Turkey, hoping for a better life to see out her retirement.
But five years later her dream has become a nightmare – and she’s been forced back to Britain, where she finds herself homeless and penniless.
And Wendy, 67, warns there’s a hidden danger to living abroad she hadn’t budgeted for – which has ruined her retirement.
She says: “I never imagined I’d be this skint in my sixties.
“Instead of sunbathing on the beach, I’m sofa surfing and relying on food banks.
“I am the living breathing warning every retiree or pensioner should read about before choosing to leave Britain for sunshine and sangria.”
Former interior decorator Wendy fell in love with Kusadasi almost two decades ago after visiting a friend who lived there.
The coastal resort on the Aegean Sea, south of Izmir, is famed for its sandy beaches and Roman ruins.
Wendy says: “I took one look at the white sand beaches, met the locals, tasted the food and knew it was my dream retirement location.”
The town had such an impact on Wendy – who is mum to two sons aged 50 and 46, and a daughter who tragically passed away at the age of 40 – that she snapped up a botlhole there in 2009.
She says: “I bought a two-bedroom villa for £28,000, two hundred metres from the beach, with a shared pool. I nabbed a bargain before the town became popular with tourists.”
At first Wendy – a grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of six – used her new pad for holidays, then when she retired in 2014 aged 56 she moved there, planning to see out the rest of her days in the sun.
But the keen cyclist’s hopes for a peaceful old age came crashing down in 2019, when she was hit by an uninsured drunk driver while cycling on a road near her Turkish home.
And as her medical bills spiralled, she discovered she didn’t have the correct health insurance to cover them – and was hit with a bill of more than £150,000.
Wendy recalls: “My right leg was shattered. An artery in the leg was severed and there were five serious breaks.
“When I arrived at the hospital, the doctors thought I was dead.”
‘I couldn’t make a claim’
Wendy had to undergo multiple surgeries to save her leg and was unable to walk or leave hospital for 12 months.
But there was worse news to come. She says: “As the driver had been drunk and was not insured, I had no way of making a claim against him.
“I was offered £18 for the accident. My medical bills would be over £150,000.”
When I arrived at the hospital, the doctors thought I was dead
Wendy Williams
Turkey isn’t part of the EU or EEA; this means that Turkey and the UK do not have reciprocal healthcare agreements.
European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) and Global Health Insurance Cards (GHICs) are not valid in Turkey.
Instead, people retiring there are encouraged to take out private health insurance or pay into Turkey’s State Scheme known as the SGK.
“I couldn’t afford to pay the full fee which is 24 per cent of the national gross minimum wage,” Wendy says.
“Private health insurance would have cost me up to £150 a month, and that wasn’t in my budget.”
Wendy was finally able to leave hospital in September 2020 – but by then was unable to travel back to the UK because of the Covid pandemic.
She was forced to remain in Turkey and fork out yet more cash for rehab, costing £15,000, as she learned to walk again.
A fall during a rehab led her to break her arm, which cost another £10,000 in expensive surgery to insert a metal plate, followed by £10,000 in occupational therapy.
She says: “I was alone and scared. All I could think about was getting back to England and finding work.”
I was alone and scared. All I could think about was getting back to England and finding work
Wendy Williams
When Wendy planned her Turkish retirement she thought she would never have to worry about money again.
The cost of living in Kusadasi is half that of Britain – making it a popular retirement spot for OAPs from across Europe.
But while there are approximately 34,000 Brits living in Turkey, only about 1,000 of those are thought to be retirees.
Experts say Turkey’s decision to not offer a dedicated retirement visa, the cost of private healthcare, and the fact the country is not an EU member means it is not as popular as countries like France or Spain.
Wendy says: “I bought my Kusadasi cottage before these issues became a problem.
“I was working part-time organising holidays and special events abroad for British tourists and was careful with my savings.
“I was fit, healthy and active – I’d done my budgets and knew I could afford to live.”
Forced to sell home
Having never had any medical issues, Wendy didn’t factor in comprehensive health insurance.
It was a decision she came to regret when staff at the Turkish hospital presented her with eye-watering bills.
She says: “I was horrified. I’d been made to sign a document saying I’d cover the cost of my treatment when I was bleeding in the ER.
“It was either that or die in the hospital. I barely remember that day, but it was my only option.”
Before Wendy moved to Turkey she rented out her three-bedroom home in Moredon in the hope of one day selling it and upgrading her Turkish home.
Now she was forced to sell it to cover her costs.
I was horrified. I’d been made to sign a document saying I’d cover the cost of my treatment when I was bleeding in the ER. It was either that or die in the hospital
Wendy Williams
She says: “As I lay alone in a foreign hospital, I realised the only way I could pay my medical bills was to sell my home in Turkey for £28,000 and my three-bedroom house in Britain for £200,000.
“It was gut wrenching. I had to do this during Covid. The isolation and depression were awful.”
By the time Wendy covered estate agent fees, taxes, hospital bills and rehab costs she was left with less than £5,000 to her name.
She was finally able to return to Moredon in October 2021, but was still reliant on a walking stick, had minimal use of her right arm and no income.
With her state pension still three years away, she survived on an £81-a-week carers allowance as she nursed her elderly mum who suffers from dementia.
She was offered temporary accommodation in a hostel but was unable to manage the stairs with her injuries.
Now on a long waiting list for council housing, she relies on friends who let her sofa surf.
Wendy says: “I usually arrive with a bag of groceries from the food bank, and we share a cup of tea, and I get pillows, sheets and a duvet so I can make a bed on their sofa.
“I feel like a burden.”
Wendy – who divorced her first husband in 1985 and lost her second to a heart attack in 1998 – says it is a million miles away from how she imagined she would spend her retirement.
Having run a successful business, she was counting on the equity in her house to support her in her old age, alongside the state pension.
She says: “When I retired a decade ago, I thought I’d never have to work again or worry about money. Now everything has changed – I can’t even afford a trip to the supermarket.
“I am calling the local council daily begging for emergency housing and relying on food banks and charity handouts to get by.”
Sadly Wendy’s shock return to Britain is not unique.
Dire warning
About 30 per cent of retired expats come home within three years – often for family or healthcare reasons.
And there are more than 1.4m over 65s still working despite hitting state pension age – just like Wendy, who says she will take any part time work she can get.
She says: “The only way I can survive is work until I die. There are no holidays, world cruises or long lunches in my future.
When I retired a decade ago, I thought I’d never have to work again or worry about money. Now everything has changed – I can’t even afford a trip to the supermarket
Wendy Williams
“The best I can hope for is being able to afford to rent a room in a shared house.”
Wendy hopes her story will act as a warning to other OAPs dreaming of a new life in the sun.
She says: “I am begging anyone aged 50 or over who moves overseas to factor in the cost of private health cover.
“I didn’t think I’d be the victim of a worst-case scenario.
“I just hope my story will help other people realise moving abroad can come at a cost and it takes just seconds for your dream life abroad to be destroyed.”
