What you both missed
Is that they were British visitors who needed the "emergency" gall bladder operation. They were travelling abroad.
>"We were born in the UK, worked all our lives in the UK and paid all our taxes and National Insurance .........As for the US - I had an emergency gallbladder operation, we didnt realise our medical insurance would not cover this and ended up paying over 22,000 dollars! It practically bankrupted us!"
I guess they plopped their Mastercard down on the advice of a doctor, eh? Could have just been a gallbladder "attack".