Amelia Dean, 19, faces INSURANCE HELL as she lies paralyzed in South Dakota hospital after bison attack
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA: Amelia Dean, 19, was attacked and thrown 15-feet into the air by an American bison while hiking with a friend and his wolf-dog through Custer State Park on June 16. And now, after almost two months of being in hospital, the health insurance company has left Amelia hanging in US after they decided to withdraw support.
Amelia's parents, Mathew and Jacqueline, who started a GoFundMe to raise $171K to transfer their daughter to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, wrote, "Mia [Amelia] is English and whilst her travel insurance has paid so far for the femoral artery bypass, they are refusing to pay for even the initial examination by the specialist of her nerve injury. Mayo Clinic, a world-class hospital in the peripheral nerve field (a very niche field), has accepted Mia as a referral from Rapid City Hospital. Mia’s injury is complicated in the first place, including both the vascular and nerve injury, but the nerve damage itself is also complex and extensive. This could be Mia’s best chance to regain control of her foot, and time is running out."
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They added, "The insurance company has given us an ultimatum: to fly Mia home by air ambulance this weekend, after which they will withdraw funding for her case."
According to the Daily Mail, now the family has two choices, either to fly Amelia home to Brockham in Surrey on an insurance-funded air ambulance this weekend or to make her stay in the US where she can recieve 'world-class specialist treatment' but with no health insurance. If they make Amelia fly this weekend, the company is ready to take care of the air ambulance, which costs around $121K or else the family will have to pay it themselves.
The total fundraiser
Dean's parents said on the site, "Since launching this fundraiser, Mia’s situation has changed and we have had to make some difficult decisions.Our daughter’s health is our top priority and we want to get her home as safely as possible." They are hoping to fly Amelia back this weekend. "Although the money you have so generously given [stands around $77K at present] would cover initial testing at Mayo Clinic, the cost of an air ambulance home is in excess of £100,000 ($121,000). If we choose stay in the US and follow this route we are then potentially left stranded," they added.