<p>A retired couple building homes with Habitat for Humanity International in Hungary never expected that getting home to the U.S. would turn into such an ordeal.</p><p>John and Kathleen Spindler, from Franklin, arrived in Hungary Sept. 24 to build four homes in the rural town of Csurgo, an impoverished city of 6,000 near the Croatian border.</p><p>But on Oct. 6, the night before they were to fly home, John was rushed to a hospital after he collapsed in their hotel room with what doctors initially feared was a heart attack.</p><p>Doctors determined that Spindler, a retired attorney and Greendale municipal judge, had suffered a bout of ventricular defibrillation. They installed a pacemaker, which would have sent him on his way, had he not dislocated his artificial hip when he fell.</p><p>Once the hip was realigned, he was cleared to leave the hospital _ but only in a horizontal position.</p><p>The couple's daughter, Beth Currie of Greendale, has been negotiating the travel arrangements with the insurance company, Chubb Corp., and Medex Global Group of Baltimore.</p><p>Currie said Chubb Corp. initially committed to an air ambulance but changed its mind at the last minute, saying it wasn't medically necessary. So the family turned to the airline Lufthansa, but that takes days to arrange because the carrier has to remove seats to accommodate a stretcher.</p><p>Arrangements were made for a Friday morning flight, but when Currie called late Thursday to confirm, it had been nixed again. Lufthansa canceled the flight.</p><p>"Medex felt he could fly with just a nurse," Currie said. "Lufthansa said he needed to go with a doctor and on oxygen."</p><p>Medex said late Friday it stands by its medical opinion but will now "defer to the airline" to get the Spindlers, both 67, home as quickly as possible.</p><p>"All the arrangements are being finalized, and they will be home next week," Medex spokeswoman Nicole Beach said.</p><p>Habitat for Humanity spokesman Larry Lincoln said the organization is doing everything it can to resolve the situation.</p><p>"We're working with all of the parties, and we have every expectation that they will be stateside by early next week," Lincoln said from Habitat's headquarters in Americus, Ga.</p><p>Currie said it was an emotional roller coaster for a week.</p><p>"I feel as if our guts have been ripped out _ I can't tell you how many times now," Currie said.</p><p>But the Spindlers still feel a deep affection for the Hungarians and Habitat's work there.</p><p>"I think this whole experience was very, very wonderful for us," Kathleen Spindler said. "We'd even talked about coming back next year. But I don't know about that now."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc0b8)</p>
