Diabetic Scottish grandad wins travel insurance battle after holiday sepsis scare

A grandad who was warned a holiday injury could be sepsis has won a refund battle with an insurance company.

Robert Warden suffered an infected toe while on holiday in Thailand and had to fork out £899 for an emergency flight back to Scotland after medics warned he could have life threatening sepsis.

He was admitted to hospital for three days but his holiday insurance company AXA deemed his injury wasn’t serious enough to have gone home early.

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However, after our sister title Sunday Mail stepped in, Robert was told he would be refunded the costs in full.

He said told the Sunday Mail: “I’m incredibly grateful to the Sunday Mail for their help in resolving this claim. Common sense prevailed in the end, as well as the prospect of bad publicity.

“I’m a type 1 diabetic, I couldn’t wait around to see if sepsis was going to set in.” Robert, 59, who has been a diabetic for more than 30 years, was on a three-week holiday in late February when on the second day, he noticed the wound on his toe.

In Thailand, pharmacists prescribed two courses of antibiotics after an infection began to spread up his leg. A doctor then warned it could lead to sepsis – a life-threatening reaction in which the immune system overreacts and damage the body’s tissues and organs.

Robert, from Torphins, near Aberdeen, paid for a 22-hour flight to Glasgow before travelling to Aberdeen Royal Hospital where he was admitted for three days in March.

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However, AXA refused to reimburse Robert’s flight costs after telling him his injury was not serious enough to fly home and that he had failed to contact them before boarding.

The grandad had paid £153.30 to AXA for the three-week break, in which he planned to visit friends and several destinations across the country.

After the infection began, he visited a pharmacy in Chiang Mai, and a medical centre days later in Pattaya. Robert sent AXA photos of his injury, an NHS hospital discharge letter as well as photographs of prescribed medicine labels.

He has lodged a complaint with AXA over the handling of his claim. AXA said: “We have reviewed Mr Warden’s claim and, due to the nature of his circumstances, we will be covering the costs he incurred. We have been in touch with Mr Warden to confirm this.”