Have Suitcase, Will Travel. Wait…, Did You Buy Travel Insurance?

My wife interrupted my writing this morning and said the downstairs neighbors had returned home and we should go and visit them. Two months ago they left to join their daughter and her children in the south of France. We found them in their living room. Sam looked okay but Susan looked terrible. She was pale, thin and her hands were shaking. “What’s wrong?” we asked. And out came the horror story.

 

“The first few weeks were wonderful. It was school holidays. We hi red a car and traveled around and saw the sights. We spent quality time with our grandchildren. We took them to Paris. We ate in a couple of real French restaurants and we saw a few shows. It was marvelous. We came home in time for school and settled into a routine in the village where we were living. One morning I woke up feeling ill,” said Susan. “As the day wore on I felt worse and worse and by evening I was practically unconscious.”

 

Sam took over. “I took her to a hospital in a nearby town. In the emergency room they started working on her and finally a doctor came out and in very poor English explained that they did not understand what was wrong with Susan and he thought they were losing her. “She seems to have an infection throughout her body. From the blood tests we think it may be septicemia or peritonitis. I don’t have experience…”

 

In the end, as a last resort in an effort to save her, they cut her open, washed her out and stitched her up. “That’s all we could do. I am very sorry. I do not think she will recover.” Sam was desperate to get her home as quickly as possible. The next morning he managed to get tickets on a flight, bundled Susan up and took her to the airport. She said, “I sat in that plane literally holding myself together. I don’t remember much of the flight.” Sam said, “It was an absolute nightmare.”

 

Here at home she is attended by doctors, a nurse comes and takes blood samples every day, a physiotherapist is working to get her back in shape and they are both feeling much happier. Susan is not out of the woods yet but she has a fighting chance.

 

Of course as long-time neighbors and as friends we asked many questions. In the end, I managed to ask the wrong one. “Sam,” I asked, “we both have good medical insurance schemes and we both pay high premiums for that pleasure. “Why didn’t you call them, when this happened? As far as I know they would have sent a doctor out to see you and to help get Susan back.” He looked at me for a minute. “I never bought travel insurance. At our ages and with both our medical histories it cost about $12 a day each. For 2 months that would have been $1450. Would you have paid that?”