Mother’s lifesaving surgery stopped at last minute because her bank blocked payment for operation

A British mother’s lifesaving neuro-surgery in America had to be cancelled while she was being prepped for the operation – because her bank blocked payment after an automatic fraud alert was generated. Samantha Smith, from Rochdale, flew to Arizona for the £250,000 procedure to rebuild her neck, which has been weakened by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The 32-year-old, whose condition means her neck has become too weak to support her skull, was lying in her hospital bed at the Mayo Clinic, in Phoenix, when doctors broke the news to her.