Crushed bones in faraway place, how much is being uninsured costing you?
In today’s world you are usually focused tightly on what you are going to be doing for the holiday season, how you are going to spend your annual leave, what you are going to do on the kid’s mid semester break.
Everyday life just has a way of taking all of your spare time and mental resources.
One day you are happy healthy and planning your next get away, then something happens that can either be a life changing fiasco or it could, with the right planning and financial investment, be just a small deviation in your otherwise well thought out plan.
Not all of our best moments in life come about by chance, there are many that are worked towards, planned in meticulous detail and executed with the utmost of painstaking patience and persistence.
So it is always heart wrenching when the ugly face of disappointment sneaks up behind you and thumps you in the head, most people have had this happen to them more than once in life. Usually it is not fatal and it is something that in time will pass. But sometimes the blow is so devastating that it takes months, years or even a lifetime to recover from it.
When I first got into this business I met a guy (let’s call him John) that spent most of his time jet setting and drinking after work cocktails in some of the most exotic tropical paradises you could imagine. Holding the world in the palm of his hands John was living the life that only few could comprehend.
One day when John was on a short trip back home in the US, he met up with an old flame and they decided on a short get away together. The setting was something that he had become accustomed to, picturesque scenery, long summer nights, trail riding at sunset with a young beautiful companion at his side. One sunny morning the sky was clear and the air was crisp, the freshness of morning due was everywhere. They decided to take a fateful ride through the nearby valley. All was going well, flirtatiously ribbing one another they were blissfully unaware of how their lives were about to change forever.
Coming up through the valley on the way back to their accommodation they arrive at the end of the pass where a steep cliff met the valley trail. Large rocks scattered on the side of the winding trail were soaking up the morning sun, you could see the rising mist of the morning due vaporising into the crisp morning air. Care free and thinking only of getting back to a late alfresco breakfast, they enthusiastically flicked the reins to get their horses to break into a slow canter. As the trail opens up the horses start to stretch out into a loping stride. Suddenly my friends horse notices a sun baking serpent, the snake is caught off guard and coils up hissing. His horse shies violently and starts into an uncontrolled ducking and diving, ultimately stopping, rearing up and losing traction. While trying to get away from the hissing angry reptile he misplaces one of his back legs and falls sideways. John’s reminiscing of this moment was very difficult to listen to.
The horse came down hard, John was sandwiched between this large heavy beast and one of the boulders that lined the path, he felt a heavy load on the side of his pelvis as the horse rolled right over the top of him. The horse in a panic rises to his feet and our trailblazer is left squashed on the side of the path. He looks over to see where his companion is and she is nowhere to seen. Her horse had bolted with her on top.
Let me tell you, the moment he got to this part of the story I was cringing and wondering how is it that he is here to regale me with his story in person. Well after the dust settled he was lying there in agony, unable to move his legs. Every movement made him think he’d broken every bone in his body.
John’s female companion was able to settle her horse down enough, come back and tend to him. John was in a tough spot as he was not able to stand, she was not able to move him as she feared she would cause more injury. In this isolated area phone signals were unreliable and access was difficult for anything other than horse, motorcycle or helicopter.
She decided to head back to their getaway and to use the landline to call for help. After informing the emergency services of their location and the seriousness of the incident, they dispatched a medical evacuation team.
John’s recovery was not fast and to this day he still has to have the occasional treatment related to these injuries.
Although this fall crushed his pelvis fractured one of his femurs and damaged two of his vertebrae this would not have been the worst part of the whole dilemma. The bills for medical evacuation, surgery, physiotherapy and specialist care would have been devastating had he not been smart enough to take out international health insurance. His international health insurance policy not only covered him while he was jet setting around the world, but it also gave him full coverage back in his home country of the US for six months of every year.
His policy cost him around $1,500 per year and he had been paying for quite a number of years without making any substantial claims. But had he not been insured that fateful excursion with his young lady friend would have ended up costing him almost half a million dollars.
Just the initial costs of medical evacuation and surgery would have almost sent him bankrupt. Even if it didn’t the $390,000 that had to be paid, would have kept him insured for ten lifetimes.
Everybody thinks about the good times ahead to keep them moving forwards, but smart people plan for the not so good times, so they will be able to keep moving forward.
Would you risk $500,000 not being insured?
Get in contact with us so that we can show you how John was smart enough to protect himself.