An evening spent in Crete, a lot of alcohol and little vigilance… A few days ago, the life of a whole family was turned upside down. In the early morning, Logan, 25, suddenly falls from the 3rd floor of his hotel. The young man gets away “miraculously” with numerous fractures. He must now be repatriated but it is impossible for his mother to finance this operation. Narrative.
“I’m cracking. Until now, I hadn’t cracked but now it’s too much”. Her words are whispered by Lucretius. This mother, originally from La Louvière, left everything to fly to Heraklion (Crete) and thus be at her son’s side. On the spot, she discovers Logan, 25, bedridden in a hospital room full of pipes and medical equipment of all kinds. A monitoring tells him the state of his son. “He has been stable for a few days”, she confides, her throat knotted. Because since the beginning of July, Logan’s life has changed. His and his mother’s at the same time.
They are young, they released the pressure during their holidays
Logan and his friends have chosen Crete to spend a few days of vacation. They then planned to continue their summer journey in the south of France. On July 3, they celebrate. After a night out “well watered”they return to the hotel around 4am. “He had drunk too much. They are young, they released the pressure during their holidays”, explains Lucretius. Logan settles on the balcony of his hotel room located on the 3rd floor and dozes off on a deckchair. For some unknown reason, around 6 a.m., he jumped over the balcony and fell suddenly. A fall of almost 15m. Logan lands on a bush in the courtyard of the hotel. “Fortunately, he fell on this bush. But since there were big trunks, he was seriously injured”says his mother.
He has months of remission
Its fall causes such a crash that a vacationer, housed on the ground floor, goes out to see. According to his statements reported to Lucrezia, Logan would have managed to get up before collapsing. The concierge and then the emergency services are alerted. Logan is taken to the hospital in critical condition. For 72 hours, he remains in the intensive care unit. No open wounds but multiple fractures. “7 vertebrae, two broken ribs and a punctured lung”, painfully reports his mother. The latter went there to be at the bedside of her son. “The operation went well. He’s stable. He’s in a lot of pain and is on morphine. In fact, he’s completely high and doesn’t remember anything,” describes Lucretius, her throat knotted. Before blowing: “The doctors tell us that he is miraculous. They are surprised that he is there”.
The operation on her spine went well, explains the mother. “He has months of remission. But according to the doctor, the spinal cord was spared. He could walk again”, she assures. His condition is now stable, repatriation is possible. Problem: Logan does not have supplementary insurance or repatriation insurance. The young man “hadn’t paid his health insurance for a long time, more than two years”, despite the invoices and payment reminders received. Lucretia therefore explains to us that she is responsible for the repatriation which, according to her, amounts to €35,000. “Given his condition, he must be repatriated in a plane which flies over at low altitude”, she says. In some cases, it happens that patients have to board this type of aircraft in order not to suffer from the pressurization of the cabin.
Logan was affiliated with the Partenamut mutuality. But by not paying his dues, he lost his benefits. A spokesperson for the mutual fund agrees to answer our questions. As Crete is part of the European Economic Area, urgent care abroad is usually covered there, he confirms. Confidentiality obliges, he does not speak about the particular case of Logan, but explains to us the consequences of non-payment to his mutuality. “When a member has not paid his contributions for more than two years, and after numerous reminders to put himself in order, he is excluded from the supplementary insurance and is therefore no longer entitled to the advantages of this insurance. He is always possible to re-affiliate but subject to a waiting period of 24 months”, we are told.
In the event of an accident abroad, a health insurance fund can usually cover repatriation under certain conditions. This service is called “Mediphone Assist” and is part of the supplementary insurance. “Therefore, if the person is not in good standing before leaving, they will not be covered by this service, as with any other insurance product”explains Partenamut.
As a reminder, in Belgium, a distinction must be made between compulsory insurance and supplementary insurance. Each resident, affiliated with an insurer, benefits from compulsory insurance which covers the reimbursement of health care and compensation. Compulsory insurance is financed by social security contributions and state subsidies. This compulsory insurance is organized by federal law.
As social security does not cover all health risks, mutual societies offer complementary insurance which is financed by contributions from members. They allow you to benefit from additional advantages and services. This is the case of the Mediphone Assist service offered by Partenamut and which allows medical repatriation.
As a mom, I live in hell
This drama is an opportunity to remember how important it is to get in order before going on vacation. Being in order of mutuality at the time of departure is essential if you do not need to be repatriated during your stay. Some countries may not be covered by your health insurance. In this case, it may be advisable to take out travel insurance with an insurance company.
“I dipped into my last pennies to join him. So I launched a call for donations on Facebook”, says Lucretia who hopes that this collection of donations will allow him to raise the necessary sum to finance the repatriation. In the meantime, she stands at her son’s bedside, watching for the slightest improvement. Every two days, she is ordered to do a Covid PCR test to access the hospital. Uncomfortable in English, she also tries to decipher the jargon of doctors and thus do everything in her power to help her son. By sharing this drama, Lucrezia would like to warn. “QMay my story make young people understand that they are not untouchable, that no one is safe. As a mother, I live in hell”she concludes.