You never think it will happen to you until it happens to you.
That is the lasting thought of my 2024/25 family Christmas holiday – a trip that had been planned for 18 months, a multigenerational trip that had been planned for 18 months for 10 of us to visit some amazing and exotic ‘once in a lifetime’ places such as Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Seychelles, Maldives and more.
Thankfully, we all had comprehensive travel insurance, as I am a firm believer that if you cannot afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel.
So off we went, and soon after we arrived in Mauritius, it became apparent my father was not well. Twenty-four hours later, he was unconscious in the back of an ambulance – more a glorified van with room for a stretcher, being driven recklessly at breakneck speed through the dark and narrow streets of Port Louis.
I was in the van with him and of course, we did stop along the way at the hospital’s head office, where staff emerged with a portable EFTPOS machine so I could swipe away a few grand to give us the privilege of continuing to the hospital itself.
My father ended up spending 17 nights in ICU, which meant a host of cancellations and re-planning.
We lost a cruise, sent six people home due to a lack of accommodation in Mauritius the week of Christmas, and needed to cover expenses for the few of us that remained to care for Dad.
Luckily, my wife had already spoken to our insurer’s emergency assistance team, and by the time I arrived at the hospital with Dad, the wheels were already in motion.
Here, I can only say the emergency assistance team at World Travel Protection (WTP) were amazing. Over the course of the 17 days, I was kept up to date multiple times a day, which was reassuring during such a stressful time.
Dad’s care was their absolute priority and thankfully, they made the decision to cancel a planned air ambulance to an emergency centre in Johannesburg because WTP doctors decided he was not stable enough to travel at all.
Hence, he would have to do his recovery dodging the mice that resided in the Port Louis intensive care unit. That decision was a godsend, and while the hospital was questionable to say the least, the care from the doctors and nurses was very good.
Ultimately, the story had a happy ending when Dad was repatriated back to Australia, complete with a travelling paramedic, all arranged in record time by WTP. Being in our industry, recently after my return to Australia, I was able to arrange to meet some of the WTP staff in their Brisbane office to thank them all in person.
Chatting to some of the staff (pictured), I could really see the passion they have for their jobs and genuine willingness they have to help. They have no idea how positive their effect is when talking to a client any time of the day or night during a high stress occasion.
It also hit me, these men and women are really out of sight and out of mind, but these emergency assistance teams are worth their weight in gold and we should hold them in very high esteem.
While travel insurance is not the sexiest product we sell in travel, it is lucrative and absolutely vital. As I said at the start, you never think it will happen to you, until it happens to you
