Jordon Hunt was on the final night of her dream Bali getaway when a decision she initially thought was harmless saw her almost killed
The Sydney 23-year-old was out for dinner with friends on the holiday island late last year when she accepted a free lift home from someone heading in the same direction.
Before she knew it, she was confronted with the sudden realisation she was about to be hit.
“I remember being face-to-face with this white four-wheel drive coming straight towards me at 60km per hour,” Ms Hunt said.
“Then I just tightly closed my eyes as you’d expect you’d do in a dangerous situation like that.”
The scooter she was on the back of collided with the oncoming car, throwing Ms Hunt to the ground and knocking her consciousness.
When she eventually came around, it was immediately obvious that her right knee and femur had copped the worst of the collision.
“I woke up, looking at the sky, with the bike still across my legs. The first thing I did was wiggle my toes, thinking to myself, if I can wiggle my toes, then I’m not paralysed,” she recalled.
“I knew it was bad because I had a look at my knee before they were able to bandage it up. I could see my kneecap, which wasn’t the best experience.”
She laid on the road awaiting help until bystanders eventually stepped in to lift her off the road and wrap her leg in a towel.
Ms Hunt was taken to a public hospital where she woke up hoping the accident was all a “bad dream”.
“The morning after the accident was quite alarming. You think to yourself, ‘I’m just going to wake up and find out it was all a bad dream.’ You plan for these things, but you never expect them to happen,” she said.
With more than 150 patients arriving at the public hospital daily – largely foreigners – receiving emergency care was nearly impossible.
“They had splinted my leg, so I had one plank of wood underneath and two to the side with a bandage just holding it together,” Ms Hunt said.
“I’d been told I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink any water, so I was very dehydrated at that point. It was quite hard to communicate with everyone, especially in the public hospital.”
In serious danger of losing her leg, she contacted her insurance company, 1Cover, which swiftly had her moved to an international hospital where her care radically improved.
“Once we got to the international hospital it was amazing. I got X-rays done, surgery performed on my leg – I had one doctor working on my femur and one working on my knee. I was given my own private room where my friends could visit. It was great from that point,” she said.
“Before that my boyfriend (who had arrived from Vietnam) thought I might lose my leg.”
About nine days into her overseas treatment, she received a call from her insurance case manager informing her she would be getting flown home to Sydney, where she lives on the Northern Beaches.
“I just thought, ‘oh, thank goodness I’m going home’,” she said.
The ordeal, without insurance, would have set her back a whopping $48,000.
Five months on however, she has continued to reap the benefits of her decision to pay $70 for cover.
Ms Hunt had hers and her boyfriend’s flights home to Sydney covered, and she received $400 a week throughout her recovery to help with her medical appointments and mortgage.
“It has been about five months since my accident, and I still can’t really work. It’s amazing that even though 1Cover paid for so much over there, they’re still paying me and supporting me here in Australia,” she said.
“My case manager was on call at any time, even if it was 3am in Australia. If it wasn’t for 1Cover I’d be out of pocket by like $50,000.”
A spokeswoman for the company encouraged travellers to “take the time to know the risks involved” before boarding a scooter in Bali.
“Riding in places like Bali can be dangerous given the unpredictable nature of its roads. Poor infrastructure along with a lack of traffic control can easily catch out unsuspecting tourists. It’s important not to underestimate the risks of riding a scooter or motorbike overseas,” Natalie Smith said.
“We receive hundreds of claims each year in regard to scooter and moped accidents and a good number of insured travellers are not entirely sure if they are covered.”
“Use Jordon’s story as a precautionary one. If you’re planning to ride a scooter in Bali, take the time to know the risks involved.”