TAMPA, Fla. — What was supposed to be a two-month-long vacation of fun and surfing turned into a nightmare for a Tampa Bay area man because of the coronavirus.
Dan Underhill tells ABC Action News that he's spent hours on the phone with officials in Peru and America, and still has no idea how he'll get home.
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"It's not looking good," he said.
His biggest problem is the medication he needs for his medical condition, not related to the coronavirus. What he has right now is running out.
"The official wording is hunker down," said Underhill.
Most of Peru is shutdown, that includes the small airport in Puerto Malbrigo where Underhill is stuck.
He has to get to Lima in order to catch a flight back to America. That's a 12 hour ride, and Underhill said cabs are no longer running.
According to Underhill, the American Embassy has told him they can't get to him because Malbrigo is in a remote section of the country.
"It's kind of odd because the Swedish government has picked up six people already," he said. "A Spanish guy is getting picked up by his country. Someone from the United Kingdom is getting picked up today, and the Swedish government is coming back to get more of their people."
They're all going to the same airport in Lima, but Underhill was told he can't catch a ride with the others because he does not live in those countries.
"So I'm the only one left in the hotel I'm in," Underhill said.
He found out that he "might" be able to get his medication, but it won't be the right dosage, and it might take up to five days just for it to arrive in the town he's in.
He's trying to stay positive.
"I'll survive. I'll cut up the pills and just make it work," he said.
ABC Action News has reached out to Congressman Charlie Christ and Senator Rick Scott. Underhill said that someone from both offices have reached out to him.
"We'll see what happens," he said.
