A British man has been left unable to walk and staring at huge medical bills after breaking his neck during a holiday in France, all because he travelled without insurance.Guy Evans, 30, suffered the life-changing injury while visiting his father’s holiday home in the Loire Valley with his brother Stan on April 19.What began as a simple attempt to clear broken tree branches from the garden quickly turned into a nightmare when Guy fell nearly 10ft onto a stone wall after a branch snapped beneath him.
Brit ‘obliterated’ vertebra in freak accident
The freelance copywriter was rushed to hospital, where doctors revealed he had shattered his C6 vertebra in his neck.Describing the terrifying ordeal from his hospital bed, Guy said he had “obliterated” one of the vertebrae near the top of his spinal column.“Very luckily I’ve not severed the spinal cord, which apparently would be more or less curtains for me,” he said.Doctors performed a six-hour emergency surgery the day after the accident, reconstructing the damaged vertebra using bone taken from his left hip. A second operation followed a week later.
No travel insurance leaves family facing huge costs
While Guy has since returned to the UK for treatment at King’s College Hospital in south London, his family has been left scrambling to cover soaring medical and repatriation expenses because he did not take out travel insurance before the trip.Admitting his mistake, Guy said: “I’m a foolish, foolish boy. You always think these things won’t happen to you.”His younger brother Robbie Evans launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for the mounting costs, including bringing Guy back to Britain and supporting his rehabilitation.
GoFundMe donations flood in
The fundraiser struck a chord with people online and quickly crossed the £102,000 mark.In an update shared on the fundraising page, Robbie said the family was “completely overwhelmed” by the support pouring in from strangers.He explained that part of the money had already been used for Guy’s medical transfer back to the UK, while the remaining funds would help support his long recovery process and future living arrangements if he does not fully regain mobility.
Still unable to walk
Although Guy has regained some movement in his arms and hands, he remains unable to walk and now faces months of intensive rehabilitation.According to him, the first 18 months after such an injury are considered critical for recovery.Despite the ordeal, Guy says he feels fortunate doctors were able to save his spinal cord from more catastrophic damage.