Welsh Father Faces Life-changing Reality After Thailand Holiday Accident

[webfact]

 

A SEEMINGLY idyllic family holiday to Thailand turned into a life-altering nightmare for Lee, a 54-year-old father from Church Village, Rhondda Cynon Taf. Known for his dedication as a community occupational therapist, Lee’s career focused on enabling disabled individuals to live independently. Ironically, he now faces a similar challenge, after a devastating motorcycle accident left him paralysed from the waist down.

 

Lee’s trip, intended as a joyful reunion with his daughter Katie, whom he and his wife Clare Francis hadn’t seen in five months, ended in tragedy on January 19th, 2024. The accident occurred on their trip’s final day, shattering the family’s happiness and altering Lee’s life course irreversibly.

 

The aftermath of the crash was dire. Lee sustained multiple severe injuries, including broken ribs, a fractured spine in three places, and significant lung contusions. His condition deteriorated rapidly, leading to a critical care stint in Krabi Hospital in southern Thailand, where he battled pneumothorax, haemothorax, and a pulmonary embolism. These complications severely hampered his treatment and recovery, necessitating a week on a ventilator, unable to eat or speak.

 

Despite undergoing successful decompression surgery, the prognosis was grim: Lee would never walk again. This news was particularly devastating for someone whose life was intertwined with physical activity and sports. Lee, a former basketball player and coach for the under-18s Welsh girls’ team, cherished his walks up Pen y Fan as a form of personal therapy. Now, he must confront a future devoid of these passions.

 

The journey back to Wales was nothing short of harrowing. Lee endured an 18-hour stretcher flight, a testament to his resilience and the unwavering support of his family. His daughter Abigail, alongside her step-siblings Dylan and Menna, navigated the complexities of insurance coverage, ensuring Lee’s medical and repatriation costs were met.

 

By Tom Sinclair

 

Full story: THE PATTAYA NEWS 2024-02-12

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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[daveAustin]

Poor guy. What a nightmare. Go steady out there, folks. 

[kwilco]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

navigated the complexities of insurance coverage, ensuring Lee’s medical and repatriation costs were met.

THis needs to be explained. It sounds like he did everything right -so which insurance company laid on the "complexities"???

[hotchilli]

The accident also served as a harsh lesson in safety and preparedness. Lee credits his survival to wearing a helmet and wisely choosing comprehensive travel insurance.

He now advocates for these precautions to other travellers, hoping to prevent similar tragedies.

 

Check your insurance cover and stay off the motorcycles.

[Maejo Man]

We normally get " Lt General Somchai rushed to the scene to find............" but no details of the accident in this case, not even on the link.

[phil2407]

Guessing he had bike licence & good luck to him - speedy recovery

Just out of interest if as a tourist you get bike taxi (win) & they crash who pays the medical bills? 

[Big Bert]

6 minutes ago, phil2407 said:

Guessing he had bike licence & good luck to him - speedy recovery

Just out of interest if as a tourist you get bike taxi (win) & they crash who pays the medical bills? 

Think you just answered your own question. A win should have mandatory pol a bor insurance which I think has a maximum of 20,000 baht claim.

 

[monty1412]

52 minutes ago, kwilco said:

THis needs to be explained. It sounds like he did everything right -so which insurance company laid on the "complexities"???

I think any insurance company when you talking about medical repatriation is  complex to deal with....insurance companies generally are not always the most proactive in wanting to oblige by the terms of the policy.. hope the  guy recovers as best he can and full marks for having  the insurance in place for his trip 

[RobU]

From the Pattaya news:

"he finds himself in a cruel twist of fate, struggling to secure the necessary modifications for his own home. A GoFundMe page has been established by his family to bridge this gap, "

Bull***t, the local authority will do all necessary adaptations for free. He is also entitled to disability living allowance at the higher rate for mobility and care to the tune of over £300 per week. It's a tragedy but the family is milking the Gofundme community.

[Pouatchee]

25 minutes ago, RobU said:

From the Pattaya news:

"he finds himself in a cruel twist of fate, struggling to secure the necessary modifications for his own home. A GoFundMe page has been established by his family to bridge this gap, "

Bull***t, the local authority will do all necessary adaptations for free. He is also entitled to disability living allowance at the higher rate for mobility and care to the tune of over £300 per week. It's a tragedy but the family is milking the Gofundme community.

 

seems like you may be on to something. the fact that this guy has lost the use of his legs is a tragedy. but as someone who knows nothing of the way of life in england i may have been tempted to help. now... not so much

[roo860]

1 hour ago, Big Bert said:

Think you just answered your own question. A win should have mandatory pol a bor insurance which I think has a maximum of 20,000 baht claim.

 

 

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, monty1412 said:

insurance companies generally are not always the most proactive in wanting to oblige by the terms of the policy.. hope the  guy recovers as best he can and full marks for having  the insurance in place for his trip 

 

Completely wrong on every level. Insurance companies want nothing more than "to oblige by the terms of the policy"

 

The problem is people step outside those terms and then whine when claims are denied

 

Popular misnomer that insurance companies dont want to pay. Nothing fosters goodwill and repeat business more than a properly administered claim but what most people completely fail to grasp is that the acturies expect a certain level of claims over any given period and premiums reflect that already

 

I worked in Insurance for 6 years

 

 

 

 

[Spock]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The accident also served as a harsh lesson in safety and preparedness. Lee credits his survival to wearing a helmet and wisely choosing comprehensive travel insurance.

He now advocates for these precautions to other travellers, hoping to prevent similar tragedies.

 

Check your insurance cover and stay off the motorcycles.

Or do as I did and pay extra for motorbike coverage. My Thai friend did all the driving so my coverage was just for riding as a passenger. And if you are going to ride a motorbike you make sure all bases are covered in terms of alcohol, helmet and clothing. This poor guy couldn't have had worse luck if he had wanted. 

[Michael Hare]

These motor bike accidents with tourists seems to be occurring nearly every week. Hiring a motorbike just is so dangerous. Especially if one is a visitor and not used to the dangerous driving here. Why not rent a car? I know renting a car is more expensive (900-1,200 baht/day)  but if one is only on holiday for a few days, then the overall  expense is not much. I have lived in Thailand since 1974 and whenever I go to Krabi, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai I rent a car. In Bangkok I use taxis. 

[metisdead]

An offensive post contravening our Community Standards has been removed.

 

[youngster30uk]

11 minutes ago, Chivas said:

 

Completely wrong on every level. Insurance companies want nothing more than "to oblige by the terms of the policy"

 

The problem is people step outside those terms and then whine when claims are denied

 

Popular misnomer that insurance companies dont want to pay. Nothing fosters goodwill and repeat business more than a properly administered claim but what most people completely fail to grasp is that the acturies expect a certain level of claims over any given period and premiums reflect that already

 

I worked in Insurance for 6 years

 

 

 

 

The statistics say otherwise. In 2021 the Insurance Ombudsman in the UK upheld the claims of 28% of the people wo made a claim that there insurance claims for motor insurance had unfairly been rejected. A large number of rejected claims are not even taken to the Ombudsman, so in reality the number of unfairly rejected claims is much higher

[Spock]

31 minutes ago, roo860 said:

 

What lousy coverage. 20000 - 80000 baht maximums is not going to pay for much in a serious accident. And I would be suspicious of any policy in which baht is misspelt as 'bath'.

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, RobU said:

From the Pattaya news:

"he finds himself in a cruel twist of fate, struggling to secure the necessary modifications for his own home. A GoFundMe page has been established by his family to bridge this gap, "

Bull***t, the local authority will do all necessary adaptations for free. He is also entitled to disability living allowance at the higher rate for mobility and care to the tune of over £300 per week. It's a tragedy but the family is milking the Gofundme community.

Nobody is forced to donate, and I don't have as much faith in the generosity or ease of the system to bridge the gaps. Everyone has the choice as to what to spend on, or whether to donate, but this might well be a better cause than buying ladydrinks for a distant working girl on line, or being the number 3 or 4 'sponsor' in the sick buffalo fund.

[newnative]

Another day, another tourist suffering a devastating injury in a motorcycle accident.  Another preventable tragedy, simply by banning tourists from renting motorcycles.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, newnative said:

Another day, another tourist suffering a devastating injury in a motorcycle accident.  Another preventable tragedy, simply by banning tourists from renting motorcycles.

There will not be any actions in that direction, deterring tourism, and removing the ability of the locals to make lots of money from them.... not likely.

[RobU]

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

 

seems like you may be on to something. the fact that this guy has lost the use of his legs is a tragedy. but as someone who knows nothing of the way of life in england i may have been tempted to help. now... not so much

Good, don't be taken in by their bull. He was an occupational therapist (OT) and knows all of this, they specialise in assessing for home and mobility adaptations and recommend them for patients to the relevant authority to provide them for free. I am disabled so I know a bit about this. This Gofundme scam  is aimed directly at people like yourself and able bodied UK citizens who don't know how the UK social care system works. There is also 'Carer's Allowance' which effectively gives his full time carer (wife or other family member) a salary because it's cheaper than him going into a nursing home. The NHS also supplies the wheelchair. There is also a scheme where he can be supplied with an adapted car if he gives the money from the mobility component of his Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as rental. It can take a little time for everything to be put in place but all monies are backdated to the date of submission of the claim. Plus if he was employed by the NHS or the local authority (as most OT's are) he will receive a generous lump sum payment and a disability retirement pension.

[roo860]

12 minutes ago, Spock said:

What lousy coverage. 20000 - 80000 baht maximums is not going to pay for much in a serious accident. And I would be suspicious of any policy in which baht is misspelt as 'bath'.

This is the mandatory Government insurance, translated from Thai.

[Tropicalevo]

11 minutes ago, newnative said:

Another day, another tourist suffering a devastating injury in a motorcycle accident.  Another preventable tragedy, simply by banning tourists from renting motorcycles.

A fairly naive statement.

Would you also ban tourists from crossing roads, renting cars, being passengers in tour buses, climbing waterfalls and so on ad nauseam.

People are responsible for their own actions.

The lad did everything correctly. Wore a helmet, had a licence, took out the proper insurance.

[RobU]

18 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Nobody is forced to donate, and I don't have as much faith in the generosity or ease of the system to bridge the gaps. Everyone has the choice as to what to spend on, or whether to donate, but this might well be a better cause than buying ladydrinks for a distant working girl on line, or being the number 3 or 4 'sponsor' in the sick buffalo fund.

This gofundme scam is aimed at the international and UK able bodied community who don't know how the UK social care system works.  Correct they don't have to donate but I doubt if they would if they knew the full facts and just how generous the UK system is. I am disabled and a former registered nurse so I know a thing or two about this. Also if he was working for the NHS or local authority he will get a generous lump sum and a disability retirement income.

[Cabradelmar]

At least he had enough sense to wear a helmet. No mention of if he had a proper motorcycle endorsement or if the accident was operator error. For far too many tourist the answer is no license, and no experience (and unusual no helmet).

[PremiumLane]

3 hours ago, kwilco said:

so which insurance company laid on the "complexities"???

 

they all do that

[stupidfarang]

I guess he had a motor bike license and an international license and that is why the insurance paid out, it would be interesting to know. So many times, people have insurance and when they have a motor bike accident it is discovered they do not have a license for a motorbike. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

[IamNoone88]

He may had comprehensive insurance but looks like a very inferior helmet from the photo. Its not just the paperwork (Insurance & license) but the hard wear as well.  

[barrybike]

Poor guy , hope he gets looked after well , very tragic thing to happen 

[bunnydrops]

2 hours ago, RobU said:

From the Pattaya news:

"he finds himself in a cruel twist of fate, struggling to secure the necessary modifications for his own home. A GoFundMe page has been established by his family to bridge this gap, "

Bull***t, the local authority will do all necessary adaptations for free. He is also entitled to disability living allowance at the higher rate for mobility and care to the tune of over £300 per week. It's a tragedy but the family is milking the Gofundme community.

I don't know what is considered "necessary" but remodeling bathrooms, widening doorways for wheelchair access, lifts in multi-story houses, and ramps to enter exterior doors comes to a pretty penny. I find that most government "necessary" have quite a few limits.