A British grandfather has been left unable to walk after slipping and breaking his neck, and is now facing a massive £40,000 bill to fly home due to making a ‘silly mistake’ on his travel insurance form.
Brian Ackroyd and his close friend Deborah Wright, 61, went on their annual seven-day trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on October 26.
However, barely a day into the trip the pair were on their regular coastal walk when the 65-year-old ‘lost his footing’ on ‘uneven ground’ and fell backwards, getting his head got stuck in between two big rocks.
Deborah says the force of the fall was ‘traumatic’ and she ‘screamed for help’ before other holidaymakers luckily came to the rescue and phoned an ambulance.
In hospital the grandparent was rushed into intensive care and told he’d fractured his neck, skull and suffered from multiple bleeds on the brain.
Now on a neurology ward as he is unable to walk, Brian cannot move his hands due to nerve damage and is ‘desperate’ to return to the UK for intensive treatment.
Deborah claims Admiral insurance has refused to cover the cost of the £40,000 air ambulance Brian needs to return home because he hadn’t disclosed his type 2 diabetes or that he’d been referred for a colonoscopy.
They have been forced to set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs.
Brian Ackroyd (picture, right) and his close friend Deborah Wright (pictured, left) went on their annual seven-day trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on October 26
In hospital the grandparent was rushed into intensive care and told he’d fractured his neck, skull and suffered from multiple bleeds on the brain
The grandmother-of-one says she feels ‘let down’ by the insurance company who she says has since offered to cover £5,000 as a goodwill gesture, which they refused.
She is now urging others to thoroughly fill out their travel insurance and declare anything even if it hasn’t been done.
Admiral says they are ‘really sorry’ to hear about Brian’s injuries and they had offered an ‘ex-gratia payment as a gesture of goodwill’.
But the insurance company stressed the importance of ‘declaring all medical conditions’ when taking out insurance and before going on holiday.
Deborah, a primary school safeguarding leader who lives in Chorley, Lancashire, said: ‘It was a freak accident and could happen to anybody.
‘The actual fall is something that I will never ever forget, the noise and the way that he fell was such force. It was so traumatic.
‘There’s a pedestrianised walkway and it’s beautiful and goes all the way around the headlands and the views are amazing.
‘We’ve been on this walk so many times over the years and done exactly the same things that we did.
Deborah claims Admiral insurance has refused to cover the cost of the £40,000 air ambulance Brian needs to return home because he hadn’t disclosed his type 2 diabetes or that he’d been referred for a colonoscopy
Brian needs a £40,000 air ambulance to come and pick him up from Croatia
‘He went down the steps and as he came down, we didn’t realise it at the time, what looked like a tree root had made the ground uneven.
‘He lost his footing on that and fell backward and got his head stuck in between two big rocks.
‘I just screamed for help and luckily there were people doing the same walk as us and they all came running to help because Brian stopped breathing. We had to fight to get him out of the position he was in.’
After being rushed to hospital Brian is now being kept in the neurology ward as he is unable to walk or use his hands but doctors have advised that he needs to return to the UK for intensive physiotherapy.
Brian had been battling prostate cancer since 2023 but is currently in remission.
Deborah said: ‘I want Brian home more than anything and it’s imperative to his long term prognosis. He’s just stranded in Croatia.
‘The problem we’ve got now is Brian is deteriorating daily because the hospital can’t provide the care he needs now.
‘They’ve provided the life-saving care but he needs intense physio care and they don’t do that at the hospital. He should be having physio all day every day as well as his medical needs seen to.
Barely a day into the trip, Brian traversed down these stairs before he fell over
Brian got stuck in between these two big rocks
‘When I met with the neurosurgeon this week he told me that it’s not in Brian’s best interest to still be at that hospital.
‘To be told everything was fine and the insurance was covering everything and at the 12th hour to be told it was not honouring the claim because of the mistakes Brian made even though it’s nothing to do with his fall.
‘I’m not aware of where his head was at that point. He’s taken a tablet for diabetes for quite a few years. It was a silly mistake. The colonoscopy hasn’t even happened.
‘But the type 2 diabetes wasn’t an issue and Admiral knew about that not being declared but they still carried on saying it was okay. It was when it went to the underwriters and they said “no”.
‘I feel very let down that we haven’t even spoken to Admiral. I would have liked them to have offered a percentage of the claim if they couldn’t offer it all.
‘But to say “no” when they know how vulnerable and seriously ill Brian is. They know he can only come home via air ambulance because of his injuries.
‘It’s not like he’s just broken his leg or he was full of alcohol. He was a 65-year-old man after three cups of coffee and breakfast just going on a stroll on holiday. He wasn’t doing anything foolish and it was just an accident.’
The grandmother hopes the GoFundMe page, which has raised more than £8,749, will help Brian as he is ‘desperate’ to return home.
Brian cannot move his hands due to nerve damage and is ‘desperate’ to return to the UK for intensive treatment
The grandmother hopes the GoFundMe page, which has raised more than £8,749, will help Brian as he is ‘desperate’ to return home.
She hopes this will warn others to declare everything to their travel insurance.
Deborah said: ‘When people say “that’s a nightmare”, they don’t realise just what a nightmare actually is. This has been life-changing for me and it’s not me that’s had the life changing accident.
‘The GoFundme has literally blown me away with how kind people are. I’ve told Brian how much people are trying for him and that’s given him hope because he’s just so desperate to be back in the UK.
‘The fact we’ve had to leave Brian in such a vulnerable position in a foreign country is just horrendous.
‘I just want to highlight to other people that think they’ve got their holiday insurance done, if you’re under any investigations or anything, whether you’ve had it done or not, you must put that down or you won’t be covered by your insurance.’
A spokesperson for Admiral said: ‘We’re very sorry to hear about Mr Ackroyd’s situation. Due to data protection and the sensitivity of the information regarding the claim, unfortunately we can’t comment on this specific case without Mr Ackroyd’s permission.
‘We are aware Mr Ackroyd is currently receiving ongoing care and treatment at a public hospital. We are in contact with them and will continue to monitor his situation.
‘We never take the decision to refuse a claim lightly, we understand how stressful and costly this can be. We’re really sorry to hear about the injuries he has suffered and as a gesture of goodwill, we have made an offer of an ex-gratia payment to assist with costs and his return home.
Brian had been battling prostate cancer since 2023 but is currently in remission
Deborah said: ‘I want Brian home more than anything and it’s imperative to his long term prognosis. He’s just stranded in Croatia’
‘When someone takes out travel insurance with us, we ask them to declare all medical conditions, including any ongoing treatment or prescriptions, any ongoing investigations into their health or if they’re waiting for a diagnosis. If a customer provides this information, we can provide the right level of cover.
‘In some cases, we may void a policy from inception based on the condition or treatment that the customer hasn’t declared.
‘When a claim involves a medical incident, we do check previous medical history to make sure everything was declared correctly.
‘Our terms and conditions explain what needs to be declared and why. We prompt customers to remind them what medical conditions, prescriptions, ongoing treatment and investigations they need to tell us about. We also highlight this requirement in policy documents, including the Insurance Product Information Document.
‘With all cases, even if a claim is declined, our emergency assistance team will continue to offer ongoing support and medical guidance to help customers through the situation.’
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