A dying mother’s dream holiday turned to disaster after a broken leg nearly left her stranded on the other side of the world – but one dedicated fundraiser helped bring some good to a bad situation.

Lindsey Gates, 41, travelled to Disneyland in America on May 31 with two of her daughters and husband Jason.

Friends of Mrs Gates, who grew up in Waltham Abbey, raised money for the trip after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in April.

After three weeks away, disaster struck as Mrs Gates broke her leg getting out of the bath, also fracturing her shoulder.

With her insurance company not paying for an air ambulance flight home there was concern that Mrs Gates, who now lives in Hampshire, could die away from home.

“The hospital didn’t release her because she had a blood clot in her leg,” said Mr Gates, 44.

“We couldn’t do anything, we were stranded.

“I was running back and forth.

“It was a horrible experience to be honest, for something that we expected to make happy memories it turned out to be a disaster.”

Friends and family publicised her story and it was passed on to Shane Yerrell, a fundraiser and campaigner from Waltham Abbey.

He saw the opportunity to help and set up a fundraising page, with members of the public donating £4,000.

In the meantime, British Airways arranged a free flight for Mrs Gates and the money raised will now go towards her funeral or the cost of American medical bills.

Mr Gates said: “It just generally makes life easier, I don’t have to worry as much.

“Through [Shane] doing that, it takes a little bit of the stress off me so I can concentrate on my family and spending as much time with Lindsey as I can.

“He is a fantastic bloke.”

“Something good has come from a bad situation,” said Mr Yerrell, who is registering his company Through The Fight as a charity.

“I think it is great when people come in and help someone they don’t know.”

He added: “When we met her, she was one of the loveliest people.

“She is really positive, really happy and she was not sad at all.

“She has got a really good outlook on life, she is inspiring.”

To donate to the fundraiser, visit https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/shane-yerrell-1.