Diane Steadman, 61, has said she will never go abroad on holiday again after being handed a £28,000 bill. She was on holiday on the Greek island of Skiathos on September 11 when the accident happened.
To get between the beaches on their £2,200 holiday, Diane and her partner Mick Raftery had used rented quadbikes. During one short journey between two beaches, the pair claim they were hit by a local car.
The impact from the rear sent both Diane and Mick flying off the road. While Mick came away with a few cuts and bruises, Diane landed heavily, breaking two vertebrae in her back.
Accident and aftermath
Diane recalled: “I felt a jump in my back and I don't remember anything else.” She added: “All I remember is waking up on the road. He [the car driver] wasn't watching the road and didn't have time to slow down. I was in and out of consciousness, I didn't have the energy to speak to anybody when I woke up. I tried to be strong but I'm so frightened, I feel like I'm going to die.”
After being moved by ambulance to a local medical centre, Diane, a mother-of-two, was rushed to the mainland for further treatment, all under the belief the whole incident would be covered by her travel insurance.
However, she was shocked to find out that quadbikes weren’t covered by her policy. What’s more, although she was under intense pain relief, she was unable to afford a £40,000 operation, so had to borrow £28,000 to fly back to the UK via air ambulance on September 30.
Warning to other travellers
As she waits for an operation to fix her back, Diane has paid tribute to her partner but also admitted she does not intend to go abroad again. She said: “It's just been one thing after another, I will not be going abroad again, no way. Mick has been brave and tried to put a smile on my face. I'm scared of the operation, everyone is telling me it's going to be okay.”
Meanwhile, Mick has issued a warning of his own, pleading with people to make sure they check the small print of their insurance policies so they know what is and isn’t covered to avoid something similar happening to him and Diane. He added: “Check your insurance before you rent a quad bike. We were mistaken in thinking insurance covered quad bikes too.”
As well as asking people to check their policies, Mick has also set up a GoFundMe to help him and Diane cover some of their costs following the disaster.
