A Story That Shows the Importance of Getting Travel Insurance

I recently received the email (etc.) below from one of my readers. The story it tells shows the importance of getting travel insurance (I work with and recommend Allianz) and medical evacuation insurance (I use Medjet Assist). Unfortunately, the person involved didn’t have insurance, but he got extremely lucky when his employer, American Airlines, stepped up to the plate and covered his medical expenses. Let’s just hope and pray he recovers from the stroke he had in Vietnam.

The email:
Hi Johnny,

A friend of mine recently went on one of Rob’s trips to Peru. Rob owns a company/runs a company called “You Can’t Steal My Happy” travel/tours. My friend “liked” his video on FB (Facebook) so I followed the thread. I thought you would find it interesting as Rob documents and videos the entire process of his experience this week with this emergency travel situation etc. I hope Skip is going to recover… it just happened within the last few days. Below is the thread I copied and pasted from FB for you. I don’t know any of the people in the thread or video, but as a retired flight attendant with American Airlines I am so proud and happy that American stepped up and helped Skip out.

I am for sure buying trip insurance now for my daughter’s study abroad this summer!

Happy travels,
Karol

From Robert Hearn on Facebook (update here):
Hello everyone. As some of you may know I have been dealing with a very sick client who suffered a major stoke on this past weeks tour of Vietnam. My client is actually completely paralyzed as a result of multiple tumors in his brain. After 3 days in Vietnamese hospital it became very apparent that he was not going to live for another 24 hours with the current care. My client had no trip insurance and to evacuate him to the nearest hospital (Bangkok) that could help him was going to cost over $20,000. I made a call to MedAire in the US and asked them if they could ask American Airlines (Skip’s employer) if they would cover the expenses of evacuating Skip. It was a crap shoot because the airline will only pay for such an evacuation if an employee is working a trip. Skip was not on company time. Long story short AA actually agreed to cover all of the expenses of getting Skip to Bangkok via private medical plane. They even footed the bill for his Vietnam hospital care and advanced a $5,000 check for coverage of the Bangkok hospital. The video [above] documents everything that happened during the extraction process. I am beyond grateful for the professionals at MedAire and American Airlines for saving a life. I will be with Skip Murphy until his family arrives and while he cannot talk or move I will read each message to him if want to offer some encouragement.

As you can see, having travel insurance could save you not only a lot of money but even your life. Seriously: Consider getting it before heading out on a trip, and be sure to read the fine print carefully since not all plans are created equal. Most don’t include extreme sports like sky diving or even scuba diving. If you travel a lot, consider getting an annual plan like I do.

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