Turkish hospital ‘holding British pub landlord hostage’ until his £41,000 bill is paid after he fell into a coma while on holiday but wasn’t insured

27 comments

1. I was just reading this. Is it me, or are more people relying on GoFundMe rather than travel insurance?

2. It’s a sucky situation, but…

   Good grief I am exhausted of people going “I’ve never had a problem before so why should I pay for insurance?”

3. Anyone contributing to that GoFundMe needs to give their head a wobble.

   It’s a tough situation for the granddaughter but he took his chances. He should remortgage his house or sell possessions to cover the cost of his choices.

4. Travel insurance is so cheap, I can’t understand why people skip it

5. He bet on not getting ill and he lost, people that donate to this should be giving their money to people/charities that actually need help through no fault of their own.

6. He was refused insurance.

   Sure enough, he’s in hospital. The insurance companies felt he was a high risk and wouldn’t insure him. As much as I hate insurance companies, they were correct in their risk assessment.

   To travel without holiday cover was foolhardy. It’s kinda selfish that his family has to go through this because of his poor decisions.

7. This is the equivalent of putting all your money equally on numbers 1-36 and then the ball landing on 0, crying about it and getting the public to reimburse you. If you gamble not paying travel insurance then you can’t complain if that gamble doesn’t pay off.

8. ‘We do appreciate everything they have done, but now all they do is demand we pay the medical bill.’

   Lol. We said thank you, what more do you want?! Payment for your services?

9. I know (knew) a guy with chronic bowel issues and has a colostomy bag. His travel insurance is extremely expensive through a specialist provider but he still pays it to enjoy a bit of sun with his wife. Guy chanced his arm and lost – I don’t have much sympathy

10. It’s daft for *any* of us to travel without health insurance, but for someone with several pre existing conditions who had already been refused insurance to do so is bloody insane. My sympathy for him is very limited.

11. Ok why is there so many pictures of the granddaughter posing? I don’t read the daily mail but is this really where we are at as a society???

12. Is that a story or an advert for her Insta…..(why all the full length shots of the daughter!)

    At least he is getting decent aftercare – UK hospital would throw you out 11 minutes after treating you….

    Are they holding him “hostage” or is he still in a coma? They can’t induce a coma because you haven’t paid.

13. If you choose to travel without insurance, you are choosing to accept the risk of paying out of pocket if something goes wrong.

    Absolutely no sympathy, and the hospital are definitely not “holding him hostage”, from the sounds of it, he’s still being treated.

14. Is this not what GHIC/EHIC cards are for? If not genuinely what are they actually for then? I thought they covered your healthcare while away.

15. Going on holiday is not a right. If you cannot afford the higher insurance, you cannot afford the holiday. Might not seem fair but life isn’t.

16. Why is the majority of the article dating profile pics of the granddaughter?

17. There’s more pictures of the daughter than the person the story is about.

    DM doing what the DM does best, although, I am disappointed that there’s no mention of the value of his house.

18. Obviously the big photo of his daughter in a sexy blue dress was critical to the story.

     /s, Obviously 

    Edit: and the second, third, and fourth picture of the daughter on her nights out. Definitely helps the reader understand and relate to the retired pub landlord.

19. Am I the only one who thought that article was going to end with a link to the daughter’s OnlyFans?

    Sheesh they certainly managed to devote a lot of completely unnecessary space to images of her.

20. Mad how the daily mail sexualises the article with all the pictures of his daughter dressed up on a night out.

21. Lol at the picture editor cramming as many selfies of the granddaughter they can scrape off Facebook. Maybe she should start an OnlyFans if she’s trying to raise cash

22. This is why you buy travel insurance.

    But having said that, it’s also why anything other that free at the point of use is immoral.

23. £200 for my wife and I to go to Japan for 3 weeks. That’s with us nearly 70 and with a big list of pre conditions.

    I’d never go abroad without it.

24. I’m trying to work out why the article contains so many pictures of his daughter, other than the fact she is quite decorative.

25. I do enjoy the Daily Fail.

    You’d think it’s the daughter being held hostage considering how many of her pictures are plastered all over the article. I’m all for pictures for some terms of context, but not sure how two pictures of club toilet selfies are really relevant after the first one.

26. I may seem heartless but if you cannot get health insurance because you are deemed high risk then it is totally on you if you decide to go abroad and you fall ill.

    Don’t come bleating to others for help.

    It’s not complicated… Can’t get insurance? Don’t go abroad!

27. This is the office meme IRL of “go and get the guitar” and replace guitar with fit daughter to boost the go fund me.