Brit soldier who fought for life after horror holiday fall hit with £75k medical bill
A British soldier underwent emergency surgery following a near-fatal fall in Thailand, with his medical bills and expenses racking up to £75,000.
A British soldier has been hit with £75,000 in medical bills after battling for his life following a horrific fall on holiday in Thailand while taking a photo at a popular beauty spot.
Liam Gibson, 21, slipped while taking in the scenery at the Na Muang Waterfall 2 in the Ko Samui District area of Thailand on April 12.
Liam, from Hartlepool, was waiting an agonising two hours for a rescue operation after his fall, which left him fearing for his life after "bleeding out".
Five hours later, he was transferred to a local hospital for life-saving surgery, where his girlfriend Lucy was faced with medical staff presenting her with a card machine to cover the treatment, reports the Mirror.
The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) serviceman says the medical bills racked up to £75,000, but then he suffered a further blow when his insurers rejected his claim on the grounds he'd put himself "in needless danger".
Following the near- fatal fall, Liam was left with a shattered femur in three places, a broken arm, a shattered left hand, a shattered eye socket, cheekbone, nose and skull. But now recovering in the UK after a repatriation flight, Liam says his insurance company have refused to pay out the maximum amount for his policy, meaning he has had to cough up an eyewatering amount.
The trouble started when they sought to cover the medical costs through his Admiral travel insurance. It took the company three weeks to make a decision, leaving Liam stuck in hospital to run up bills.
He said: "Some days were up to £1,600, the day of the surgery, one was £13,000, another was £22,000. In my eyes, it was a case of me getting fit to fly and coming home straight away.
"At the time, I thought the insurance was paying for it, obviously if I knew it was me paying for it, that's even more of a reason I couldn't afford to stay there."
The cost of the repatriation was supposed to be £35,000, but due to needing an extra medic onboard, the cost went up to £37,500. He added: "The insurance decided out of the kindness of their heart, they'd cover £50,000, so I've had to fork out £25,000, for the medical bills. That was totalling £75,000 when I left."
Liam says that at the time of being offered the payout, he instantly decided to accept as he had "no choice" due to not having £75,000 available.
Due to the mounting medical bills, Liam's girlfriend set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs, which he says was a "last resort".
Liam, like many tourists visiting the waterfall, was wearing sliders due to the intense heat and humidity in the popular resort.
His insurance rejected his case, claiming he was engaging in deliberate or harmful acts. He branded it "ridiculous", before adding: "There's not one bit in the policy that states what's acceptable, safe or unsafe footwear."
In an email from his insurance firm, Admiral, the insurance group said they were unable to process Liam's claim, with them claiming he engaged in a " reckless act" which they class as "putting yourself in needless danger" or "failing to follow recommended safety precautions" on excursions.
He has now appealed Admiral's decision, and failing any movement, he is prepared to discuss his case with the ombudsman.
Liam had been taking a picture of his surroundings when his feet gave way, and he slipped over and started to pick up speed. While Liam didn't fall the whole way down, he instead landed on "a bit of rock sticking out halfway down." His girlfriend had previously told the Mirror that had he fallen any further, he'd have "died on the spot."
"I remember slipping, then going towards the edge thinking 'S**t, here we go,' going over and then I remember waking up and crawling out of the water. I remember most of being at the bottom, but I was in and out of consciousness, I was pouring with blood, I wasn't all there," he said.
"I was unlucky for what happened but since the accident, everything has been so lucky. There was a vine swinging off before I went over the edge which slowed me down.
"I landed the ledge, not the right the way down. My girlfriend came and found me, and a doctor bandaged me up. Everything from the fall was really lucky after that."
Locals and doctors told Liam he was "lucky to be alive" following the fall in the area, which they described as the "Taker of Young Souls."
Liam had three operations in Thailand, including one on his eye, which he says didn't work and an emergency surgery on his skull. "We got back and surgeons here did X-rays, they found that the titanium mesh under my eye was slipping, my eyeball was slipping right down behind my cheekbone," he said, explaining he was "going blind" in the eye. He had emergency surgery just two days after his X-rays.
Now, he is making a recovery at home, engaging in physiotherapy sessions and consultations with medical staff.
A spokesperson for Admiral Insurance said that Mr Gibson "knowingly undertook a risky activity despite clear warnings."
They continued: "We're really sorry to hear about the injuries he has suffered and as a gesture of goodwill, we made an offer of an ex gratia payment of £50,000 to assist with medical costs and his return home.
"Mr Gibson accepted this and asked us to pay this directly to the hospital towards the medical costs incurred, which we are in the process of doing. To assess his claim, we conducted a thorough review, including a site investigation, due to the limited information Mr Gibson and his girlfriend initially provided.
"The information provided to us included Mr Gibson confirming that he wasn't wearing appropriate footwear, given the dangerous nature of the site.
"We carefully considered all of the information, including Mr Gibson's account of the incident, the investigator's insights, including photographs of the site, the surrounding warning signs and the information available online about the site.
"Taking all this into account and given the foreseeable risk and the nature of his actions, which fall under our policy's exclusions for reckless acts, we were unable to cover his claim."
To donate to Liam's GoFundMe page, visit - https://gofund.me/122f9d42.
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