A Lincoln dad-of-one has been hospitalised after falling from a hotel balcony in Cyprus. Sam Hudson went on holiday earlier this month with his step-brother and friend for a ‘lads’ holiday’, expecting to spend a week in the sun in Ayia Napa relaxing.
However just one day into the holiday, on Sunday, June 15, Sam fell from his fourth floor hotel balcony. The 24-year-old fell suffered a broken pelvis, fractures to the L4 and L5 vertebrae in his spine and a broken leg.
Sam, a dad to a two-year-old boy, remains in hospital in Cyprus and requires surgery for his injuries. His step-brother, Nathan Covell-Rendel, told Lincolnshire Live: “I don’t really know what actually happened, I just know that he fell off the balcony.
“We were all having a good time before that, it was meant to be a good lads’ holiday, but that all got ruined.” Nathan, also 24, explained he returned to the hotel to be told Sam had fallen.
He said: “It was just horrible, my heart sunk. We couldn’t see him until the next morning.” Once he was able to visit Sam, he went to the hospital every day for the rest of the holiday to check on him before flying back home.
Nathan, who also lives in Lincoln, described Sam as being ‘an outgoing person, full of life and joy’. The dad-of-one did not have travel insurance or a global health insurance card, so his family are fundraising to bring him back home.
Sam’s step-mum, Karen Hudson, said: “Sam has a two-year-old son who’s missing his daddy deeply, and Sam is heartbroken that he can’t be there with him. He’s not only a father but also a son and a brother, now stranded, in pain, and feeling isolated so far from home.
“Being so far from home without insurance means he cannot be flown back to the UK unless we raise between £30,000 and £60,000 for a specialist repatriation flight. An alternative would be to secure accommodation in Cyprus for Sam and his family while he remains under medical care until he’s fit to return on a commercial flight.”
So far almost £4,200 has been raised but the 52-year-old says they need at least £7,000 to bring Sam home when he is discharged from hospital.
She described the situation as “heartbreaking” and is urging anyone travelling abroad to get travel insurance. She said: “I also want to raise awareness of travel insurance and GHIC cards because I’m having nothing but issues because of him not having it.”
Karen has also launched a petition calling on the UK government to make travel insurance a legal requirement for anyone travelling abroad. She said: “It could help prevent other families from enduring the same emotional and financial stress when a medical emergency happens far from home.”