Brit, 18, suffers serious spinal injuries after crashing quad bike in Greece – as insurance ‘uncertainty’ leaves family facing huge medical bill

A British teenager suffered serious spinal injuries after crashing his quad bike in Greece and now his family could face a huge medical bill due to ‘uncertainty’ about their insurance.

Alfie Moses was on the island of Zante for his first children’s holiday to celebrate his 18th birthday when he crashed last Monday.

The Peterborough teenager was taken to a local hospital before being airlifted to Mediterraneo Hospital in Athens after doctors discovered the severity of his injuries.

Alfie had 12 broken vertebrae in his spine, 11 broken ribs, a brain haemorrhage, a punctured lung, a ruptured spleen and a broken shoulder.

Now the family are facing a £17,000 bill for treatment and Alfie’s transfer to hospitals, but they are unsure if they will be able to cover this as they say quad bikes are not included in their policy.

Speaking from Athens, where his son is currently receiving treatment, his mother Kayley Posnett said Alfie ‘almost died’ in the crash after falling off the quad bike after crashing into a high shoulder on the road at 60 kilometers per hour.

Ms Posnett said: ‘They didn’t really know if he would survive.’

Alfie’s mother, Kayley Posnett, went out to see her injured son the day after the accident. The family now fears their insurance will not pay the escalating £17,000 bill for transport to hospital and further treatment

He described what happened: ‘His friends in front of him said they were going about 50mph and he was right behind them.

‘He fell off the bike, hit something, went flying through the air and landed on a bit of a steep cliff and the bike followed but didn’t land on him, it just exploded.

‘He was taken to Zakynthos hospital and they stabilized him because he was almost dying.

His devastated mother flew to Greece the next day to see her seriously injured son.

She said: ‘To see a child lying in bed, barely able to speak and barely able to look at you, was excruciatingly painful.

‘This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.’

He said communication barriers between doctors and family made the situation even more distressing, especially because Alfie was initially unable to speak.

Doctors at first feared Alfie might have developed a dangerous blood clot, but instead they found his spine was bruised from broken vertebrae.

He is currently recovering in the Greek intensive care unit in Athens and will need spinal surgery to stabilize his back, but this has been postponed until his lungs are strong enough.

He is also being treated with antibiotics after doctors detected a lung contusion and are currently monitoring him closely for infections.

Despite the severity of his injuries, he is now showing signs of recovery and has started talking again after initially being unable to speak, his mother said.

‘He’s doing much better now,’ he said, adding that he had been described by staff as an ‘excellent patient’ who remained positive.

Alfie was initially unable to speak after the accident, but has since managed to speak, albeit out of breath and in a pained voice, and even joke around with his parents.

Ms Posnett talked about how easy it was for young people to rent these ‘giant quad bikes’ on the island, which can go up to 70 miles per hour

Alfie had to be taken from Zante’s local hospital in Zakynthos to Mediterraneo Hospital on the mainland in Athens, and the bills for his care had to be collected.

He added: ‘I can’t thank this hospital enough because as soon as we got here the intensive care unit spoke to us and said we got a call knowing he was coming.

‘We had a spine specialist. We had a brain specialist. We had a neurosurgeon, they all came at different times. First he had a CT scan. They had x-rays.

‘Then they told us the ribs would heal on their own, which was a positive sign.

‘As a parent, I’m relieved that he’s in the right place now. And me and his dad go and see him and he cracks a few jokes and he feels positive.

‘He couldn’t talk to us before, now he can. ‘He’s very out of breath, but he can talk.’

Doctors say Alfie’s recovery will be long and complicated but he could eventually leave hospital in the coming weeks or months.

Family starts a GoFundMe to help pay mounting medical bills As Alfie has to wait for surgery and stay in hospital until he recovers.

They had to finance it without the help of their insurance, which they say does not cover quad bike accidents. They have raised more than £20,400 so far.

Ms Posnett took issue with the safety standards surrounding quad bike rentals on the island and how easy it was for young people to get their hands on these potentially dangerous machines.

He said: ‘There are people dying every week from quad bike injuries.

‘These companies confuse these young adults, bargain with them and give them a quad bike for 50 euros – this is dangerous equipment.

‘Alfie said he wouldn’t ride the quad bike if it cost €150.

‘But they said 150 euros because he went to one, he went to the other, they said ‘You can buy it for 50 euros’, and he paid 50 euros for the quadricycle.

‘They think it’s a fun thing to do. It’s not fun at all. These pieces of equipment are dangerous. These are huge, huge quad bikes.

‘They don’t say they don’t give them good direction. You can’t control them well. They’re going 70 miles per hour.

‘These young adults do not have the kind of brains to understand the dangers of driving on the road in another country.’