Mum who cracked skull in Spain faces £30k bill after easy insurance error | UK | News
Lynn Smith (right) faces a £30,000 travel insurance bill (Image: Kennedy News and Media)
A mum who fractured her skull in a horror holiday incident has been hit with a £30,000 bill. Lynn Smith mistakenly believed she was covered by the family travel insurance policy when she flew to Majorca for her 60th birthday party.
He also went to the sunny Spanish island for his 40th and 50th celebrations, but the trip turned into a nightmare.
Lynn, 59, started feeling faint in the hotel lobby on May 22 but thought it was because of the heat. He then fainted on the marble floor and hit his head on the tiles.
It was stated that the doctors who took him to the hospital urgently diagnosed him with a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage. The NHS worker underwent two surgeries to stop a brain haemorrhage before falling into a medically induced coma.
Lynn’s daughter Rose Rushbrook had to borrow £30,000 to buy a medical flight ticket to Colchester General Hospital in Essex on June 9.
Rose thought she was covered by her mother’s family travel insurance policy, but the fine print revealed the policy only covered those under 18.
Lynn went under the knife for two surgeries (Image: Kennedy News and Media)
Rose, from Colchester, said: “It was heartbreaking. “It was morning, she had had breakfast, she was walking up the hotel ramp to book a boat tour and she said she fainted.
“He’s very healthy, eats well and doesn’t drink alcohol, so it’s probably just the heat.
“This caused instant swelling and his eye was actually swollen as a bleed in the brain was trying to come out. It was really scary from then on.”
Lynn went under the knife for an emergency craniectomy surgery to relieve pressure on the brain.
The patient can now open his eyes again, but Rose, 34, says doctors are unsure how his recovery will be. He is currently unable to communicate and it is difficult to determine how much he knows.
Lynn thought her daughter’s insurance would cover her (Image: Kennedy News and Media)
Lynn’s medical care was covered by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) but this did not include repatriation to the UK.
Rose assumed her mother would be covered by the family’s travel insurance because they all lived together, but that turned out not to be the case.
He managed to borrow some money to secure the flights needed for Lynn to return to her country.
Rose said: “I didn’t just look at the fine print about it. [people] Under 18s, so it was a bit of a small print issue.
“I left my dad there, who is in his 80s, and we had to pay for his hotel, which was running £1,000 a week, so we were wasting money.
“It was terrible. It’s impossible to know right now [for recovery] But he can move his eyes and respond to sounds.”
You can donate to Lynn’s GoFundMe Here.
