Despite clear assurances from doctors at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town, to the contrary, an Australian woman had to have her leg amputated after it was crushed by a bus in a motorbike accident in Phuket in late October.
Stacey Liddle, a university student from Brisbane, had her left leg crushed by a tour bus after a collision near Chalong Circle on Oct. 26. She was in Phuket to celebrate her 30th birthday.
Liddle was riding a rented motorbike when she and a passing tour bus collided. She was knocked to the road and the bus’ back wheels ran over her leg.
Dr. Kritsada Chairattanaphitak, Vachira Hospital’s Medical Specialist in Hand and Microsurgery, later told The Phuket News in early November, “We have performed several operations on Liddle’s leg as it suffered multiple fractures and severe damage in the accident.”
“There is no need to consider amputation unless there is an infection or complication – and at this stage there is neither. The nerves are still there and currently there is no infection,” he added.
“Her leg is still recovering, it is getting better,” Dr. Kritsada assured.
However, by the time Liddle arrived in Australia last month her leg was infected, reports Australian broadcaster 9News.
Liddle was flown to Sydney via medevac after spending more than three weeks at Vachira Hospital, said the report.
Yet she was left with no choice but to undergo emergency surgery at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on Nov. 25 to remove the limb from the thigh down after catching a “superbug,” the report added.
Liddle is admirably staying in an incredibly positive frame of mind and said she has been up “hopping around her room” and have started doing exercise to prepare for a prosthetic leg,” 9News reported.
“I have no regrets in the decision I made to have it amputated. I felt quite unwell before the surgery. I got a superbug,” Liddle said in an interview with 9News.
“I am so grateful to be alive actually. I can see good things coming out of this.”
“I want to use my incident and hopefully help others, perhaps finish my counseling course and become a trauma counselor,” she added.
Liddle will go to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and then be placed on a rehabilitation program. “I’m hoping I won’t be in hospital for too long,” she said.
“One of the doctors in Sydney said I should be up walking perfectly by June. I’ve already walked to a chair with a physio. I’ve been hopping around my room. I’m stubborn when I want to be.
“I feel great. I’m going to work really hard so I can get a day pass so I can go home on Christmas Day. I got a puppy before I left which I’ve heard is not so much a puppy anymore.”
Funding vs. Insurance
Liddle was unable to fly home for treatment since the travel insurance policy she had taken out did not cover injuries sustained in motorbike accidents since riding a scooter in Thailand is deemed a “high-risk activity.”
Eventually, friends and family managed to raise the much-needed AU$32,000 (about
THB785,000), with AU$27,499 (just over THB675,000) being raised through a GoFundMe campaign.
To this, Liddle urges fellow travellers to make sure they fully understand their travel insurance policies.
“I didn’t read the fine print of my Covermore insurance. It was my fault,” she told the Australian viewing public.
“I wish some travel insurance companies didn’t have fine print but rather big print so people know what they are and are not covered for. If I knew I wasn’t covered, I wouldn’t have gone on the scooter,” she said.
“But even though I didn’t have the insurance, Covermore keeps calling me along the way. They organized me to go to RPA in the first place,” Liddle added.
Story: The Phuket News
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