Danielle Davies had barely begun her holiday with boyfriend Darren Webb when the accident happened and he was rushed to hospital with a bleed on the brain and many broken bones
A British couple’s sunshine getaway turned into a real-life holiday from hell after a horror moped smash in Turkey landed them with a massive £20,000 hospital bill. Darren Webb, 34, and Danielle Davies, 30, had just touched down in the tourist hotspot of Marmaris when disaster struck on the first day of their trip.
The pair, from Morecambe, Lancs., had hopped on a hired moped to explore the sun-soaked resort – but ended up being rushed to A&E with devastating injuries.
Darren was left with a bleed on the brain, a punctured lung, and number of broken bones, including his arm, foot, ribs and jaw.
Meanwhile, Danielle suffered a punctured lung and muscle damage, and is still battling pain weeks later.
But the agony didn’t end there as their insurance provider Admiral is refusing to cough up a penny, claiming their policy doesn’t cover accidents involving bikes.
Danielle recalled the horrific moment: “We flew out to Turkey on September 9th and booked a moped because we thought it would be the easiest way to get about for a week.
“The last thing I remember is having food in a restaurant. It was the most petrifying thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.
“There was also a language barrier and I just remember asking, ‘where’s Darren?’ He was in ICU, but I’d had a bang to the head so I didn’t really know what was happening.
“I was crying and everything was a blur. It was very scary, I was basically on my own in a foreign country.”
The terrified couple spent 10 days in a Turkish hospital, where doctors urged Darren to undergo surgery. But the eye-watering price tag of another £15,000 forced him to say no.
Instead, he made the gruelling 2,560-mile journey home by coach because he wasn’t allowed to fly without a ‘fit to fly’ certificate, which took him five days.
Now back in the UK, she’s had to dip into her house deposit savings to help pay the massive medical bill.
Danielle explained: “I’d saved enough money for a deposit, but I’ve had to use it to help Darren get home.
“The experience has put me off going on holiday again – you just don’t expect something like this to happen.”
A spokesperson for Admiral said they understood the pair were injured after riding a moped without the correct licence and training, while Darren was under the influence of alcohol – Danielle said though that blood tests confirmed he was under the legal limit.
The company added that it was sorry to hear about the situation but the claim had been assessed using witness accounts, photographs from the scene, police reports and investigator insights.
They noted that Danielle was was not wearing a helmet, which she confirmed but said one wasn’t provided by the hire company.
The spokesperson added: “The claim wasn’t covered because Mr Webb and Miss Davies knowingly undertook this risky activity whilst Mr Webb was intoxicated, and it was foreseeable that doing so would result in serious injury.”
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