Melissa Borody and her family went on a skiing holiday to Japan in January this year where she fell gravely ill. (Source: Supplied/Melissa Borody)
A Brisbane mum is urging Australians against a risky travel trend after a headache ended with her fighting for her life in a hospital in Japan. A growing number of Australians are heading overseas uninsured and it can be an extremely expensive mistake.
Melissa Borody was just a few days into a two-week skiing holiday in Japan with her family when she woke up with a headache. The 46-year-old mum of three told Yahoo Finance she initially thought it was nothing serious, so took some Panadol and hit the slopes.
But each time she went over a small bump, she could feel a shooting pain up her neck. She went back to the family’s hotel room to rest up and by that evening had developed a fever and couldn’t stop vomiting.
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Borody’s husband, Jason, ended up taking her to an emergency doctor and they quickly realised she had a blood infection.
“By that stage, I was pretty much unresponsive. I went downhill so quickly,” Borody recalled.
“They had to do a lumbar puncture to work out what antibiotic was going to be effective because they suspected some type of bacterial meningitis.”
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Doctors found out Borody had bacterial meningitis, which is a life-threatening condition. (Source: Supplied/Melissa Borody)
The suspicion of doctors turned out to be correct and Borody was diagnosed with the life-threatening condition, which is an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. She was put on nine different types of antibiotics.
“We were kind of touch and go there, with how quickly we got onto it,” she said, with doctors telling her husband she had a “50/50 chance” she would survive the night.
“I think even we didn’t realise how bad it was. We realised that if we had left it another six hours, that could have been a completely different scenario in the end.”
Borody ended up staying in hospital in Japan for a month and had to undergo a spinal drain and stay in a drain position for 14 days after spinal fluid began leaking out of her nose.
She was then moved to a hotel and had to stay there for another month to make sure her dura mater, the membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord, was healed enough to travel by plane.
Borody flew back home to Australia in March this year, two months after embarking on the family trip.
Borody ending up staying in hospital in Japan for a month, before staying in a hotel for a further month before she could travel home. (Source: Supplied/Melissa Borody)
Borody said she was thankful her husband had taken out travel insurance for the family’s trip, with the $650 upfront cost ending up being a lot less than the costs they incurred.
“Jason was the one who looked into it. He is a bit of a research king, so he reads all the different types he could get, which ones are going to cover us for the right things,” she said.
Borody said Jason was able to call up their insurer, Allianz, when she first became ill and the team was able to support them at every step and explain what was happening.
The whole ordeal, including her time in hospital, the hotel and flights, was covered by their insurance. The couple was also able to get Jason’s brother to fly to Japan to escort their kids home.
“Our claim was close to $100,000,” she said, adding her excess was about $200.
Borody had a spinal drain, after doctors found she was leaking spinal fluid out of her nose and hadn’t self healed as usual. (Source: Supplied/Melissa Borody)
One in seven Aussie travellers (14 per cent) were not covered by travel insurance on their most recent international trip, recent research by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) found.
This was up from 13 per cent last year, with young people more likely to travel without insurance. A third decided against insurance because they were travelling somewhere they thought was safe, while 27 per cent believed it was “poor value for money” and 13 per cent claimed they “couldn’t afford it”.
Smarttraveler recommends travellers take out insurance before their trip, calling it “as essential as a passport” for overseas travel. It notes hospitals in countries with reciprocal health care agreements may treat you in an emergency, but you may still have to pay for some of your costs.
Borody said she hopes her experience will serve as a reminder to other Australians. (Source: Supplied/Melissa Borody)
ICA CEO Andrew Hall said the unexpected can still happen, even if you are travelling to destinations perceived to be safe.
“Understanding your policy and assessing what kinds of activities you plan on undertaking while you’re travelling is the best way to make sure you’re protected,” Hall said.
“We encourage any travellers to understand their exclusions and assess whether they need additional cover for any risky behaviours they’re considering. Check Product Disclosure Statements and speak directly to insurers with any questions.”
Allianz Partners Australia executive head of travel Damien Arthur said the most common type of claim the group received was for expenses related to accommodation and travel when trips were cut short, cancelled or disrupted.
“This is then followed by medical and hospital expenses. On average claims payouts are several thousand dollars,” Arthur told Yahoo Finance.
“While travel insurance can provide protection in many unforeseen scenarios, there are some general exclusions including expenses related to pre-existing medical conditions that aren’t declared before travel; breaking the law; ignoring safety warnings or driving without an appropriate license.”
Borody became ill “out of nowhere” and said she’s still not sure what caused her bacterial meningitis.
“You look at me on paper, it should not have happened. I’m living proof it can happen to anyone. I’m a healthy, 46-year-old female,” Borody said.
“There was nothing there. I’m fit, I’m active, all the things. This shouldn’t have happened but it did. I’m so grateful that hopefully somebody can learn out of our experience.”
Since returning to Australia, Borody has experienced some back and hip pain, which she is seeing a physio for. But for the most part, she has come out of the experience without any major side effects.
“I really feel like I dodged a bullet with how fortunate I’ve been to come out of this unscathed,” she said.
“Sometimes I overthink things, sometimes I forget things, but I don’t know whether that would have happened anyway, and I’m just heightened to it because I know what happened.
“I’ve been very fortunate, my family has supported me in getting back into life slowly. I haven’t had to rush anything. I haven’t had to force it … I think I can say I came out of it pretty much 100 per cent.”
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