A young English backpacker who broke several bones after she plunged from a Kampang Petch waterfall is seeking compensation from her travel agent and has blamed the company for not giving her a safety briefing.
Natalie Cook, a 19-year-old tourist from Leeds, slipped and fell 10 meters from a waterfall at the Mae Wong National Park in May. She landed on jagged rocks and had to be carried out of the jungle by other sightseers, according to The Guardian.
Cook, who said she was left “extremely traumatized,” suffered from a broken pelvis, pubic bone, wrist, foot and fractured femur.
Cook was on a five-week trip with 24 friends when the accident happened. While the travel firm Gap 360, which is based in Kent, refunded her THB68,600 travel cost, she filed an additional legal claim for compensation and claimed the company did not warn her about the dangerous waterfall.
“As soon as we got there, we threw our backpacks on the floor and climbed in. The water was absolutely freezing,” she told The Guardian on Wednesday. “I naively didn’t think it would be dangerous, because I’ve never seen one [a waterfall] before.
“They need to make sure they’re telling you what’s dangerous because when you’re on holiday you don’t really know, especially when you’re first-time traveling like I was. You don’t expect these things to be dangerous, but they are,” Cook added.
David Stitt, the co-founder and managing director of Gap 360, responded that her fellow backpacker had actually asked a local Thai guide about climbing the waterfall moments before the accident and had been told: “You go once, you finish, you die.”
“Naturally Gap 360 is very sorry that this incident occurred and that Natalie suffered serious injuries. The local guide made it clear when asked that they should not climb the waterfall. It was obvious to anyone there that climbing the waterfall was dangerous and foolhardy,” he said.
Stitt, however, admitted the guides did not warn the whole group to be careful. To help out Cook, he said the company paid for accommodation and meals for her parents and boyfriend in Thailand as well as a liaison officer to facilitate them.
Cook returned to her home in Leeds over a month ago after spending seven weeks in Thai hospitals. She is recovering from the injuries and had to give up her job as a waitress.
