The shattered husband of an Australian woman battling severe brain injuries in Thailand claims their travel insurance company’s claim that she was ‘too drunk’ to be covered is false.
Kylee Enwright, 48, has been fighting for her life in a coma since May 28 after she slipped and fell on the second day of their holiday in Khao Lak, in the south of the country.
Insurer Cover-More claims Ms Enwright’s injury was caused by her excessive alcohol consumption, although her blood alcohol level was never tested at the hospital.
Instead, the company used the couple’s bar tab and estimated Ms Enwright’s body weight to calculate a blood alcohol content of 0.35 at the time of her fall – more than seven times Australia’s legal limit.
The couple’s bar tab says they paid for nine Long Island Ice Teas and 14 beers, but her husband, Paul Enwright, claims the tab was left open when he learned his wife was injured and believes other diners put their drinks on the bill.
Paul Enwright said travel insurance Cover-More is refusing to cover his wife Kylee’s (pictured together above) serious brain injury after discovering she was ‘too drunk’ at the time of her fall
The married couple had been enjoying a drink at their resort’s pool bar when she left to use the bathroom, seemingly mistaking a balcony ledge for a staircase.
The grandmother fell two feet onto concrete, landing face-first, bleeding from her head and ears.
She was rushed to a hospital in nearby Phuket, where Mr. Enwright was told to pay $20,000 upfront for life-saving brain surgery. He was only able to afford $13,000.
Ms Enwright’s hospital bill is already over $50,000 and the family have said they will have to pay another $200,000 for a medical evacuation back to Australia.
The pair thought the horrific incident would be covered by Cover-More, but a loophole in the fine print left them footing the bills themselves.
“I think we would be a dribbling mess (if we had the amount on the bar). I don’t think she had drunk excessively enough to not be able to walk properly,” Mr Enwright told A Current Affair on Thursday.
“Otherwise, as a husband, I would have walked her (to the bathroom) and helped her there.”
Ms Enwright (pictured in hospital) apparently mistook a balcony ledge for stairs and fell two feet, landing on her face and causing brain damage
Mr Enwright’s medical zero (above) has already passed $50,000, while an emergency evacuation flight back to Australia will cost another $200,000
Mr Enwright claims the insurer’s finding is just an excuse to avoid paying his wife’s huge medical bill.
“I think they’ve always had it in their minds from the beginning to find a way out of this policy,” he said.
However, the insurer said it concluded that Ms Enwright had exceeded the cover limit of 0.19 after carefully reviewing the evidence gathered.
“Cover-More is fair and reasonable in our claims processes and we make our decisions after a thorough review of all available details and medical information,” Cover-More said in a statement to 7News on Thursday.
“We have provided Kylee’s husband, Paul, with a detailed and transparent explanation for denying this claim.
“This is a sad matter and we will continue to provide Paul and Kylee and their families with whatever non-financial assistance Cover-More can.
“This includes helping to arrange repatriation to Australia, assisting with hospital admissions and a ground ambulance in Australia, travel arrangements and making arrangements with local doctors abroad or in Australia.”
The couple, who hail from Singleton in the Hunter region of NSW, are one GoFundMe to help cover the medical bill that grows by $5,000 every day.
Mr Enwright said they decided to take a holiday to Thailand after their small pest control company narrowly survived Covid.
Cover-More said it used a ‘fair and reasonable’ process to find Ms Enwright had had too much to drink to be covered at the time of her fall (above)
Mr Enwright (pictured with his wife) said the couple thought they had ‘done everything right’ in insuring their trip and is devastated that Cover-More is not covering Mrs Enwright’s medical bill
‘Like most Australians, we bought travel insurance at the level of cover we thought would be adequate. We thought we had done everything right,” Mr Enwright said 7News.
“She can move her left arm and left leg. She can squeeze your hand. She hasn’t moved her right side much and they are a little concerned that she isn’t more alert now.
“We need to get her back to Australia and back into the Australian medical system where I think she can get the best care.”
The couple’s three adult children have all traveled to Thailand to be with their mother.