A British man broke his neck on holiday in France, leaving him unable to walk and facing huge medical bills – all because he traveled without insurance.Guy Evans, 30, suffered life-changing injuries on April 19 while traveling to his father’s holiday home in the Loire Valley with his brother Stan.What started out as a simple attempt to clean up broken branches in the garden soon turned into a nightmare as a branch snapped beneath him and Guy fell nearly 10 feet into a stone wall.
Brit ‘destroyed’ vertebrae in freak accident
The freelance journalist was rushed to hospital, where doctors revealed he had fractured the C6 vertebrae in his neck.Describing the horrific experience in his hospital bed, Guy said he “destroyed” a vertebra near the top of his spine.“It was very fortunate that I didn’t sever the spinal cord, which was obviously more or less a curtain call for me,” he said.Doctors performed a six-hour emergency operation the day after the accident to reconstruct the damaged vertebrae using bone removed from his left hip. A second surgery was performed a week later.
No travel insurance leaves families facing huge bills
While Guy has since returned to the UK for treatment at King’s College Hospital in south London, his family have struggled to pay rising medical and repatriation costs as he did not take out travel insurance before traveling.Gay admitted his mistake, saying: “I was a very, very stupid boy. You always think these things can’t happen to you.”His brother Robbie Evans has launched a GoFundMe page to help cover the mounting costs, including bringing Guy back to the UK and supporting his recovery.
GoFundMe donations are pouring in
The fundraising campaign struck a chord with people online and soon passed the £102,000 mark.In an update shared on the fundraising page, Robbie said the family had been “completely overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support from strangers.He explained that part of the funds had been used for Guy’s medical evacuation back to the UK, while the remaining funds would help support his lengthy recovery process and future living arrangements if he did not regain full mobility.
Still can’t walk
Although Guy has regained some movement in his arms and hands, he still cannot walk and now faces several months of intensive rehabilitation.According to him, the first 18 months after an injury are critical for recovery.Despite the ordeal, Gay said he feels lucky that doctors were able to save his spinal cord from more catastrophic damage.
