A KIND travel agent managed to fulfill a dying woman's wish by returning her home to Scotland after she became seriously unwell when on holiday.

Linda Hill Millar has been recognised for going above and beyond the call of duty in answering the pensioner's plight.

Linda, founder and managing director or LAH Travel in West Kilbride, had to organise the full repatriation, has now been named as the travel industry’s Customer Service Champion for 2020.

Linda, who was selected from a shortlist of five impressive finalists, claimed the trophy for what judges described as “an incredibly moving story” of how she stepped in to help a sick client in their hour of need.

Last year saw Linda arrange a private jet, private medical team and private ambulance to get a terminally ill customer home to Scotland after they became severely unwell abroad - even using some of her own savings up-front to cover costs.

Linda, 48, explained: "Unknown to me, my client had pneumonia and was in Tenerife. They were stranded because of a complication with their insurance.

"Without cover, I had never repatriated somebody before. It was a huge learning curve but I managed to get it done.

"I had to work out how do I get a medical team and arrange a personal jet, it was a whole new ball game.

"To complicate matters, it was a bank holiday weekend as well and we had to get vital medical papers translated. We even had to arrange for a private ambulance for when the lady arrived at Prestwick Airport. I wanted my client to be taken directly to the ICU but the normal ambulance wasn't permitted to take a patient from an EU country, so she had to get taken by private ambulance to Crosshouse Hospital.

"I never went to bed for two full days, but the main thing was we managed to find a way. I never knew where to even start in a situation like this but somehow we managed."

Sadly, the local lady passed away at Crosshouse Hospital the following day but Linda had managed to fulfill her dying wish of returning to Scotland.

Awards editor Pippa Jacks said: “Linda really stood out in the Customer Service Hero category this year for going well above the ordinary duties of a leisure travel agent, by sourcing and arranging various private services without any experience in this area, and even committing some of her personal savings in the interim to ensure no delay in confirming the bookings.

"Judges were incredibly impressed by her resourcefulness and generosity, during what was a very distressing time for the family concerned.”

Linda said: "I am delighted to receive this award. It has come at a perfect time as the past few months have been incredibly challenging.

"There is finally some light at the end of the tunnel and I am confident that people will be travelling abroad very soon, as long as we follow all the regulations.

"It looks like air bridges to some European countries are going to be confirmed and a few long haul destinations such as the Caribbean and Dubai will be introduced later in the year.

"We very much need to encourage people to look forward to next year and take advantage of the cheap prices, as when the holiday industry does recover there won't be any bargains to be had as air and travel companies will be looking to recover what they have lost."