Key Points
- Do Australians get enough help when in trouble abroad?
- Jordan’s travel insurance rejected his claim, and Australian Embassy couldn’t provide more help.
Do Australians get enough help when in trouble abroad or do they have unrealistic expectations of what can be done in a foreign country? Watch Insight 'In Trouble Abroad'
It was supposed to be the time of my life, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the art and sights I had always dreamed about. But in 2014, my European working holiday soon turned into a nightmare, and I was begging to be taken home to Australia.
My friends encouraged me to meet them in Prague, Czech Republic, a city which truly felt like a fairytale land. I learned while trying to find my hostel that even getting lost in Prague is a blessing.
My time in the hostel felt like it was handed to me by fate. I felt that I was part of a family. It wasn’t long until Prague had my heart, and I began helping out at the hostel in return for free accommodation.
I came home one night and stayed up with some friends. We had drinks throughout the night and were reminiscing, as the ‘family’ was being broken up, with a staff member travelling back to South America.
I insisted we head outside for a cigarette at the usual spot, a roof that was three metres wide, eight metres long and very flat. It was more like a balcony. I stepped out the bedroom window, thinking it would lead to the roof, but it didn’t.
I fell about four storeys and hit the asphalt.
Jordan and his friend Sam in Prague
I woke the next day and phoned my parents back home in Australia and told them to sit down as I broke the news.
My mother was on the next available flight to Prague. She phoned my travel insurance company and received a call from the Australian Embassy in Poland to tell her what had happened.
I fell about four storeys and hit the asphalt.
A travel insurance assessor soon arrived and asked me a lot of questions about what had happened, all while I was delirious on all sorts of pain medication.
On the fifth day in the ICU, an operation on my elbows was cancelled after my travel insurance was declined.
They told me it was because I was under the influence of alcohol and had tried to sit on the roof, which was deemed to be a high-risk activity.
Jordan in hospital
My pelvis needed to be screwed together to stabilise it, and from there it just kept getting worse. My organs wouldn’t stop bleeding, my spleen had ruptured and I needed emergency surgery.
The Australian Embassy called me every second day to make sure I was okay and provide phone numbers for an interpreter. When I asked for more support, I didn’t receive any as
My organs wouldn’t stop bleeding, my spleen had ruptured and I needed emergency surgery.
Every day the medical bills increased, and my only other option was to be Medevaced out of Prague at an estimated cost of over $100,000.
As this wasn’t feasible, I practised sitting up for 20 minutes at a time so I could fly back home on a regular flight. I was still unable to move my body, I was stuck in whatever position the nurse put me in for the entire day.
After about five weeks I was discharged from hospital, and I couldn’t have been happier. After getting medically cleared to fly in my medical condition, I flew back to Australia with my mum.
Jordan in hospital
I’m now fully recovered, with a few scars and one less organ (spleen), but my dreams and happiness are still here. I was truly blessed by love and support from so many people to get me home.
Now I tell people to be careful when drinking alcohol on holidays, as travel insurers won’t be your friend.
