A British mum has vowed never to travel abroad again after being hit with a £28,000 air ambulance bill following a quad bike crash in Greece. Diane Steadman, 61, was enjoying a holiday on the Greek island of Skiathos on September 11 when the trip turned into a nightmare.
She and her partner Mick Raftery had paid £2,200 for the trip and decided to hire quad bikes to travel between local beaches. During a ride along the coast, the pair claim a local driver crashed into the back of them. The collision threw both of them off the road. Mick escaped with minor cuts and bruises, but Diane suffered two broken vertebrae in her spine.
Crash and Aftermath
Recalling the moment of the crash, Diane said: "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, believing the incident would be covered by her travel insurance. However, she discovered that quad bikes were not covered by her policy.
Costly Return to the UK
Although she was under intense pain relief, she could not afford a £40,000 operation, so she had to borrow £28,000 to fly back to the UK via air ambulance on September 30. As she waits for an operation to fix her back, Diane 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."
Mick has issued a warning, urging people to check the small print of their insurance policies. He said: "Check your insurance before you rent a quad bike. We were mistaken in thinking insurance covered quad bikes too." He has also set up a GoFundMe page to help cover some of their costs following the disaster.
