A holidaymaker has vowed never to forget travel insurance again after a simple oversight left her with a £5,500 bill following a medical emergency in Greece. Jessica Walker, 28, from Abercynon, Wales, and her partner Daniel Atkins traveled to Mykonos for what they expected to be a perfect five-day break.
During the trip last month, Jessica initially thought she was on her period, but on the second day, she noticed blood clots and began projectile vomiting. A doctor visited their accommodation the next morning and advised them to go to a medical center. There, a pregnancy test revealed she was pregnant and experiencing an ectopic pregnancy—a condition where a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube, posing life-threatening risks.
Jessica was rushed to Elena Venizelou Maternity Hospital in Athens for emergency surgery. The couple had already spent £1,400 on their holiday, but the medical bills and flights added an additional £5,500 because Jessica did not have travel insurance. She was discharged after three days and returned home on June 4.
Jessica described the ordeal: "I was on my period and it was like a normal period. I said to my partner that I'm so bloated, I looked about six months pregnant. I knew something wasn't right. On Thursday I was a bit off. On the next day I was keeled over, projectile vomiting everywhere. The sweat was dripping off me and I thought I was having a reaction to something. I was having big blood clots coming out so I knew something wasn't right."
The mum-of-two, who has a seven-month-old child, had no plans to get pregnant in 2026. She feared for her life after waking up from the operation, feeling like she had been "hit by a bus." The pain was described as "like having a period but 10 times worse."
Jessica added: "I was screaming for ages because I was in so much pain. There was the language barrier, no one knew why I was crying. All I remember is going to sleep and being in agony when I woke up. They stopped the pregnancy and removed the fallopian tube on my right side. When I woke up, I had a bag attached to me to get rid of all the fluids. I can't even remember a lot. They couldn't tell me how far gone I was because they couldn't find the sac. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
She admitted she thought she had travel insurance through her bank but discovered she did not. The hefty bill included costs for the clinic, hospital, and flights to and from Athens. Jessica is now on blood thinners and antibiotics as she recovers from the life-saving surgery.
"I go away quite often and it wouldn't get into my mind something like that would happen to me in a million years," she said. "I burst into tears, when you're in a foreign country you panic when you're not around your family. I had to go to my doctors and they just checked me over and took my blood. I'm on antibiotics and blood thinners."
Jessica vowed she will never travel without insurance again, insisting she will never be that "stupid" again. The couple, who were looking forward to some time together, said they won't be going away for a while.
