Spinal Patient Forced To Travel By Wheelbarrow

[george]

Spinal Patient forced to travel by wheelbarrow

American tourist Melissa Kelman at Phuket

International Hospital after breaking her back

during a sunset cliff jump.

PHUKET: -- An American tourist who broke her back in a cliff diving accident on Phi Phi last week, was taken to the ferry in a wheelbarrow after doctors at the local hospital were unable to diagnose her condition.

Melissa Kelman, 28, from St Louis, Missouri, made it back to Phuket where an X-ray revealed she had shattered three vertebrae in her spine.

She underwent major spinal surgery and is still recovering in Phuket International Hospital.

The dance teacher, who now lives in South Korea, said she and a friend had booked a sightseeing tour on Phi Phi with a sunset cliff jump as the finale.

When it came time for the jump, the pair climbed a rope ladder up to the 20-metre high cliff top, where they were told the only way down was to jump into the water below.

“It was too dangerous to climb back down over the sharp rocks,” she said.

Melissa jumped, hitting the water hard, and when she surfaced, she knew she was in trouble.

“I couldn’t breathe properly and all I could do was whisper ‘my back, my back’,” she said.

“One of the guys on the boat could see I was in trouble and dived in to save me.”

Melissa was taken to Phi Phi Hospital, but without X-ray equipment, doctors there were unable to diagnose her properly, and she was allowed to leave.

Because there are no cars on Phi Phi, she was taken back to her hotel in a motorcycle side car, and the next morning she was loaded onto a wheelbarrow and taken to the ferry wharf where she caught a boat back to Phuket.

She spent the one-hour boat trip lying on the floor of the ferry.

When she arrived in Phuket, she was taken to Bangkok Phuket Hospital where she planned to buy painkillers before flying home to South Korea.

Doctors X-rayed her spine and found she had three crushed and splintered vertebrae.

Melissa was transferred to Phuket International Hospital on Tuesday where surgeons fused the three vertebrae.

She will have to wear a full body brace for at least the next five months.

Melissa is now seeking legal advice to pursue damages against the Phi Phi-based tour operator that runs the sightseeing and cliff jump tour.

Doctors remain skeptical if Melissa will dance again.

Her hospital bill so far is in excess of 300,000 baht or (USD 9000) and Melissa said her South Korean health insurance plan will not cover her medical expenses in Thailand.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-08-09

[Soupdragon]

I worked as a tour guide on a sunset cruise on Phi Phi and passed the cliff that people jump from everyday. It is as the article says around 20 metres high. From that height hitting the water at the wrong angle can cause severe whiplash as I suspect has been the case here. This is not the first accident involving cliff jumping on Phi Phi, it is very dangerous.

As for the patient being transported by wheelbarrow, it was more likely one of the large handcarts used by the hotels and dive shops to transport luggage and equipment, not something you would find on a building site. This is literally all that is available on Phi Phi for transporting casualties, there are no vehicles on the island.

Edited August 9, 2009 by Soupdragon

[sungate]

I worked as a tour guide on a sunset cruise on Phi Phi and passed the cliff that people jump from everyday. It is as the article says around 20 metres high. From that height hitting the water at the wrong angle can cause severe whiplash as I suspect has been the case here. This is not the first accident involving cliff jumping on Phi Phi, it is very dangerous.

As for the patient being transported by wheelbarrow, it was more likely one of the large handcarts used by the hotels and dive shops to transport luggage and equipment, not something you would find on a building site. This is literally all that is available on Phi Phi for transporting casualties, there are no vehicles on the island.

Horrendous. I wonder if jumping off a 20-meter cliff (by inexperienced people, no less) is licensed by the TAT. It sounds to me like that activity needs to be stopped NOW. But who, I wonder, would/could stop it?

[bellachg]

With the number of people living on Koh Phi Phi and the number of tourists there, and it being on an island, it is inexcusable to no x-ray machine and qualified staff at the local hospital.

So, why was she first at Phuket Bangkok Hospital and then transferred to Phuket International Hospital ? In my experience both hospitals are equally very expensive.

[Soupdragon]

With the number of people living on Koh Phi Phi and the number of tourists there, and it being on an island, it is inexcusable to no x-ray machine and qualified staff at the local hospital.

The hospital on Phi Phi is little more than a clinic just about capable of preparing any casualties for transportation to the mainland. I would advise anyone going to Phi Phi to have enough money to charter a speedboat to Phuket in case of medical emergency.

[george]

American tourist seeks damages for broken back following cliff dive

By John Le Fevre

PHUKET (thaivisa.com): -- A young Americans holiday to Thailand has turned from a trip of a lifetime to a lifetime of nightmares after a cliff diving adventure on Koh Phi Phi went horribly wrong.

Melissa Kelman, a 28-year-old dance instructor from St Louis, Missouri, was sightseeing on the island with a friend and booked a cliff dive as the final adventure of her stay.

Unfortunately something went horribly wrong and after making the 20-metre dive into the water she needed to be hauled out of the ocean by tour operator staff.

Complaining of extreme back pain she was taken to Phi Phi Hospital, but a lack of X-ray equipment meant that doctors there were unable to adequately diagnose her injuries.

After being taken back to her hotel in a motorbike sidecar she was transported to the wharf the next day by wheelbarrow and spent the one-hour journey to Phuket lying on the floor of the ferry.

Doctors at Bangkok Phuket Hospital X-rayed the woman’s back and found she had three crushed and splintered vertebrae.

After being transferred to Phuket International Hospital doctors performed surgery to fuse the damaged vertebrae and it is expected she will need to wear a body brace for at least the next five months and that her dance teaching career is over.

To further dilute the pleasant memories she had of her Thailand holiday, Kelman, who lives in South Korea, said her South Korean insurance policy will not cover the Bt300,000 (about $US8,800) medical expenses she has run up so far.

Kelman said she is now seeking legal advice in preparation to launching a damages claim against the Phi Phi-based tour operator that runs the cliff dive adventure.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-08-10