An Australian couple narrowly escaped a $35,000 bill for a terrifying medical episode while on holiday abroad after making a $1,000 life-saving investment before their trip.
Western Australian couple Jeff Gibb, 73, and his wife Jan were at sea on a Princess Cruises voyage traveling from Fremantle to Singapore in September when he started feeling seasick.
“We were on our way to dinner and I felt very nauseous and told my wife to go ahead without me because I wasn’t feeling too fast,” Mr Gibb said. news.com.au.
He returned to his room, where his condition rapidly deteriorated.
Gibb visited the ship’s medical center, where doctors performed blood tests and X-rays that revealed he had contracted pneumonia and a liver infection.
The couple were forced to disembark when the cruise ship arrived in Bali after Mr Gibb’s health deteriorated.
He was rushed to BIMC Hospital in Kuta, where he spent three days in intensive care and several more recovering in the ward.
“I didn’t think he was that criminal, but obviously he was, to the point where when I was in ICU and I needed to sit up, I couldn’t and I had to ask the staff for help and that’s when it hit me,” Mr Gibb said. saying.
Jeff Gibb, 73 (pictured with his wife Jan) was on his 20th cruise when he experienced a bout of illness at sea.
Doctors aboard the Princess Cruises ship discovered he had pneumonia and the resulting health and travel changes would have cost him about $35,000.
Mr Gibb burst into tears as he told his wife he didn’t think he would survive this ordeal.
He was prescribed two different antibiotics and started to feel a little better.
When he was discharged, his cruise ship had left the port for Singapore.
The homesick couple scrapped any remaining travel plans and flew home.
Mr. Gibb’s medical and transportation bills totaled $35,215.
But their $1,074 investment in travel insurance before the cruise meant the hefty medical bill was covered in full by Southern Cross Travel Insurance.
‘(They) started paying our hospital bills before I was discharged, which helped us have a good relationship with the hospital. “They booked our plane tickets home and made sure, along with the doctor, that it was safe for me to fly,” he said.
The couple also had the option of receiving a refund for Jan’s emergency accommodation or for unused days on the cruise.
The agency refunded the full cost of the cruise of $6,000.
However, Gibb revealed that his 20th international cruise will be his last.
Gibb will be traveling domestically in the future and will always make sure to purchase travel insurance, urging his fellow Australians to do the same.