A British man who broke his neck after falling from a tree while on holiday in France is facing a substantial medical bill because he did not have travel insurance. Guy Evans, 30, from London, traveled to the Loire Valley on April 19th with his brother, Stan Evans, to visit their father at his holiday home.
The following day, Guy decided to help in the garden by collecting broken tree branches. He climbed a ladder to retrieve them, but after successfully gathering two branches, he overreached for a third. The branch broke, causing him to fall 10 feet onto a stone wall.
The freelance copywriter was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, where doctors discovered he had fractured his C6 vertebra, one of the vertebrae near the top of the spinal column. 'Very luckily, I've not severed the spinal cord, which apparently would be more or less curtains for me, so that's still intact, which is the first bit of positive news,' Guy said.
The day after the accident, Guy underwent a six-hour surgery during which doctors reconstructed his C6 vertebra using bone taken from his left hip. He had a second operation a week later. Although Guy has since returned to the UK and is continuing treatment at King's College Hospital in Camberwell, his family is still trying to raise money to cover his medical expenses in France, as he had no travel insurance.
His younger brother, Robbie Evans, set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his treatment and repatriation to the UK. The campaign has already raised more than £102,000. Guy, from Camberwell, said: 'I'm a foolish, foolish boy. We started this page, and I think we hit the target within six hours, which is absolutely mind-blowing.'
While some of the money covered his repatriation, the remainder is needed to cover his medical costs in France and will also go towards supporting Guy's 'long road to recovery and beyond, including finding him a suitable place to live should he not be able to recover in full,' according to the GoFundMe page. It added: 'This process is unfortunately an extremely expensive one, and we are now asking for your support as we look to give him the best possible chance of recovery.'
Guy, who is currently unable to walk, has begun to regain some movement in his arms and hands. He is now undergoing rehabilitation at the South London hospital while waiting for a place in a specialized rehabilitation centre. 'You always think that these things won't happen to you,' he said.
