Irish student loses sight in one eye after Thailand quad bike crash

[webfact]

Irish student loses sight in one eye after Thailand quad bike crash

Olivia Kelleher

 

Ciara Twomey from Co Cork who was seriously injured in a quad bike crash in Thailand.

 

Her brother says: ‘The phone call we got was awful. Her sight is lost for now in her left eye’

 

Efforts are underway to raise funds for a young Cork woman who has temporarily lost the sight in one eye following a quad bike crash in Thailand.

 

Ciara Twomey from Bantry is a nursing student at the Tralee Institute of Technology. The young woman (22) was on holiday with friends in Thailand last week when she was involved in a crash on a quad bike. She was brought to hospital where she underwent eye surgery.

 

Her brother Nick told Cork’s 96FM Ciara has lost her sight in her left eye.

 

“Her sight is lost for now in her left eye. We have no idea for sure if it will come back or if it is gone. Hopefully the next operation will take place in Ireland.

 

Full story: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/irish-student-loses-sight-in-one-eye-after-thailand-quad-bike-crash-1.3149401

 

-- THE IRISH TIMES 2017-07-11

[bristolgeoff]

every time please donate because of a accident in Thailand.have travel insurance and if it was your fault accept it and not beg for help

[mikebell]

Don't Consulates issue advisories about driving in Thailand.  It has the second most dangerous roads in the world; is number one for motor cycle deaths; has no functioning police force; and driving drunk is a National past-time.

[Anythingleft?]

*Comments from removed post edited out*

I didn't get any of that inference from the posting, seemed merely to be pointing out the dangers of driving in Thailand and that these things are more common place than they should be. Had the girl done a bit of research and made sure she had an insurance to cover for doing the activities she may be in a bit better condition for it now. Insurances are are a pain in the butt when you fork out for them but the peace of mind is priceless


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 

Edited July 11, 2017 by metisdead

[nausea]

40 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Don't Consulates issue advisories ... .

Don't know the details of this particular case but the advisories are pretty universal:

 

 "Quad bikes—personal protective equipment 

 

Eye protection, including face shields and goggles, are recommended to prevent eye injuries when using quad bikes."

 

Anyway, hope the poor girl makes a full recovery. She's lucky in a way, having such a good family and friends support network; also the funds are pouring in it seems.

[tomyummer]

Needed to Google the 'Quad Bike'. I thought it was a 4 wheeled tuk tuk or some sort of pedal taxi. It's another name for an ATV. Extremely dangerous to have as a rentals and without protective equipment.

I hope she recovers the use of her eye. Terrible.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, bristolgeoff said:

every time please donate because of a accident in Thailand.have travel insurance and if it was your fault accept it and not beg for help

 

Had the same kind of thing occurred back home, the lady would have been covered by the insurance of the rental company, and probably under NHS, as well.  So I think it's forgivable that a youngster may not have realized the need for special travel insurance with riders for renting an ATV (if that's available at all).  Not every 22 year old kid has the benefit of decades of experience traveling the world.

 

Even if she did have insurance, there's a good chance she's going to have to come out of pocket up front and file for reimbursement.  She'd still need quite a bit of cash in the meantime, waiting on the insurance company.  In which case, I'm pleased that the GoFundMe option is available for black swan events like this.

 

 

[ravip]

59 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Don't Consulates issue advisories about driving in Thailand.  It has the second most dangerous roads in the world; is number one for motor cycle deaths; has no functioning police force; and driving drunk is a National past-time.

According to stats of ????

[VocalNeal]

25 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

I didn't get any of that inference from the posting, seemed merely to be pointing out the dangers of driving in Thailand and that these things are more common place than they should be.

Sure the post I quoted was stating the obvious. If it that obvious then it does need stating. Driving in Thailand is no worse that China, Russia, Indonesia, et al.

 

Maybe my post should have been optional as in "you can always go home. Instead of instructive as in "you should go home" 

 

It's like the old joke what's the difference between a 747 and an expat in Thailand. The 747 stops whining when it gets here.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by VocalNeal

[geovalin]

When you rent a quad bike, you are covered by the the operator's insurance. Why all this fuss? The insurance company of the quad operator will pay.

OR he does not have any insurance

OR the the fund raising is not legitimate

OR the girl did not drive properly (difficult to prove because quads had been created to play silly).

 

[Ulic]

Probably a case of not enough skill and too much confidence. Weather on a Segway, scooter,

jet ski or quad, drive slow if you are inexperienced. Not sure how she suffered an eye injury

but a helmet and goggles should have been the minimum protection provided by the

rental company. I hope that her crowd funding goes well and she makes a full recovery.

That said I shake my head at people who seem to think everything they choose to do is safe and

check their brains and common sense when the get off the plane at there vacation destination.

 

[Rancid]

Why would she have been riding a quad-bike on the road, are they not for off road trails etc. People come here and want to try new things, sometimes luck just doesn't go your way, but that's life.

 

In my youth I did adventurous things and usually didn't get hurt that much, others did, luck of the draw. In the Western Nanny States they try to remove all danger from your life by banning everything, basically turning the population into a punch of pussies. Perhaps our natural reflexes to danger have been minimized due to over-protection.

[Johnnyngai]

I always consider travel insurance as a necessary cost of a vacation. 

[sawadee1947]

I pity my country fellow, but quad driving is not the safest way to have fun in Thailand.... I hope she will recover soon.

[chaiyapoon]

I often go past 'convoys' of hired quads following a guide.on the road likely heading to or from some offroad tracks.All are wearing at least helmets and googles.but the machines don't look that well maintained  with wheels on some running considerably out of true .Some of the riders look nervous and lack control  and likely don't have any licenses and the machines are not road registered.Dont see how they can be properly insured.

  

[tominbkk]

It's all fun and games til someone pokes an eye out.

[billd766]

From the Irish Embassy website in BKK.

 

I have changed the font size below to make it stand out a little more.

 

https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/thailand/our-services/travel-advice/

 

Our tips for safe travels

 

Purchase comprehensive travel insurance which covers all your intended activities

 

Add an alert for your destination within the Travelwise App.

Register your details with us so that we can contact you quickly in an emergency, such as a natural disaster or a family emergency

Follow us on twitter @dfatravelwise and @irlembbangkok for the latest travel updates

Read our Topical ‘Know Before You Go’ guide

[perthperson]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Efforts are underway to raise funds for a young

No insurance or ? .............

 

4 hours ago, geovalin said:

When you rent a quad bike, you are covered by the the operator's insurance. Why all this fuss? The insurance company of the quad operator will pay.

OR he does not have any insurance

OR the the fund raising is not legitimate

OR the girl did not drive properly (difficult to prove because quads had been created to play silly).

 

All very true !  In regard to the last point it is highly likely the lady had no experience of riding a Quad or any other type of motorbike. 

[speedtripler]

6 hours ago, ravip said:

According to stats of ????

Globally 

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been removed, including a post containing profanity. 

[anto]

7 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Had the same kind of thing occurred back home, the lady would have been covered by the insurance of the rental company, and probably under NHS, as well.  So I think it's forgivable that a youngster may not have realized the need for special travel insurance with riders for renting an ATV (if that's available at all).  Not every 22 year old kid has the benefit of decades of experience traveling the world.

 

Even if she did have insurance, there's a good chance she's going to have to come out of pocket up front and file for reimbursement.  She'd still need quite a bit of cash in the meantime, waiting on the insurance company.  In which case, I'm pleased that the GoFundMe option is available for black swan events like this.

 

 

NHS ? No ,she is from the Republic of Ireland .As a nursing student and in an emergency she would be treated on her return by the Irish health service ,for free or what she can afford .

Edited July 11, 2017 by anto

[impulse]

1 minute ago, anto said:

NHS ? No ,she is from the Republic of Ireland .

 

As if referring to it as the HSE would make any difference to the point...

 

BTW, on a similar note, your comma is in the wrong place.  But I won't argue your point on that egregious error.

 

[perthperson]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

As if referring to it as the HSE would make any difference to the point...

 

BTW, on a similar note, your comma is in the wrong place.  But I won't argue your point on that egregious error.

 

 

Cost of treatment in a HSA A/E  a min. of 100 Euros.  Cost in England £0

[halloween]

6 hours ago, Rancid said:

Why would she have been riding a quad-bike on the road, are they not for off road trails etc. People come here and want to try new things, sometimes luck just doesn't go your way, but that's life.

 

In my youth I did adventurous things and usually didn't get hurt that much, others did, luck of the draw. In the Western Nanny States they try to remove all danger from your life by banning everything, basically turning the population into a punch of pussies. Perhaps our natural reflexes to danger have been minimized due to over-protection.

Here they are road registered and hired as road transport, usually to those with no 2-wheel riding experience who feel unready to ride a motorcycle. The usual fitting of balloon style off road tyres make them difficult to control, steering is as much by leaning into the turn as by turning the bars.

IMHO renting them as road vehicles is inappropriate, to people without some experience of their performance is inviting an accident.

[joebrown]

7 hours ago, ravip said:

According to stats of ????

I stand to be corrected, but your question leads me to think you know very little about life in Thailand.

[khunPer]

Sound like she, Caira, did not have a Travel Insurance – I'm amazed how many that dare to travel to Thailand, and also drive there, without an insurance – GoFundMe and similar seem to be today's solution...

[ravip]

23 minutes ago, joebrown said:

I stand to be corrected, but your question leads me to think you know very little about life in Thailand.

You are absolutely correct,  hence my question.  Please do educate me, I pray.

[khunPer]

19 minutes ago, ravip said:

You are absolutely correct,  hence my question.  Please do educate me, I pray.

BBC: Life and death on Thailand's lethal roads...
 

Quote

Road accidents in Thailand

• 2nd in the world for road accident deaths, after Libya

• 24,000 people are estimated to die on Thai roads every year

• 73% of those killed are motorcyclists

• 36.9m vehicles ply Thai roads - it's gone up by 30% in the last five years

World Health Organization

 

[anto]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

 

As if referring to it as the HSE would make any difference to the point...

 

BTW, on a similar note, your comma is in the wrong place.  But I won't argue your point on that egregious error.

 

My bad .Never went to a proper school .Was educated such as it was by the Un-Christian Brothers in Ireland ;-)

[tominbkk]

5 hours ago, khunPer said:

BBC: Life and death on Thailand's lethal roads...
 

 

I don't care about motorcyclists dying.  The ones that take the insane chances are hopefully the ones that die and that's fine with me.