Cash floods in for travel agent injured in Thailand crash
Over £36,000 has been raised to help pay for treatment for an Essex travel agent and her partner who were seriously injured in a crash in Thailand.
The couple were travelling from Phuket to Khao Lak when their taxi was struck by a lorry, leaving them both hospitalised with severe injuries.
Abbie Sontag, 28, who works for Kenwood Travel in Harlow, was just a few days into a holiday with her partner Pete Brudenell, who also works for the agency as head of marketing.
Abbie suffered three broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and bowel, and a break in her spine, and other injuries.
She wrongly believed that her bank travel insurance would cover the £35,000 medical bill, but it doesn’t.
Her family have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for her treatment and it has already reached more than £36,000 of the £60,000 target.
"Please can we ask for anyone to make a donation towards her surgery, it doesn’t matter how big or small," the family said.
"We just need to get her well and home."
According to Abbie’s family, she has had an operation to repair her spleen, bowel and broken ribs and is awaiting her operation on her spine.
The operation has now been delayed because of an infection and collapsed lungs.
The family said today the medical bills are going to be a lot more than first thought and they are also paying for a lawyer to fly out to help them.
Pete has had an operation and is on the road to recovery, although he is still in some pain.
Figures released by ABTA earlier this month showed more than one in five people travelled completely uninsured in the last 12 months and another 27% travelled without being properly covered. Many believed they were fully covered by their bank travel insurance, but were not.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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