Namibia: 2019 tour that went wrong | Страховка на туре в Намибии не покрыла травму

A CAUTIONARY TALE ABOUT PUBLIC INDEMNITY INSURANCE and Tour Operators Duty of Care

My friend and I booked a package holiday through Nature Travel Namibia to visit Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Nature Travel Namibia were responsible for organising all transport, accommodation and activities during this tour and operated as Tour Operator accepting a duty of care.

The tour began in Windhoek on the 3^rd of September 2019.  On September 10^th I checked into the accommodation organised by Nature Travel Namibia at the Chobe Bakwena Eco Lodge, we were allocated a tree top chalet. We were due to leave the lodge on the 12^th of September with the van coming to collect us at 11am. Around 9:30am I decided to walk to the main lodge to access the Wi-Fi to update my family in New Zealand before leaving. I was on the deck of our tree top unit talking to my friend and took a step to the right.

Suddenly I was falling over and experiencing immediate excruciating pain in my right thigh.  I could feel my lower leg dangling below the level of the deck and was now lying on my back on the deck.  I was fearful that the deck may completely give way and I felt at risk of falling the 3.5 metres to the ground.  The photos show the decking, the screws that were there are clearly appear to not have been adequately affixed to the joist and therefore unlikely to support the timber.  Looking at the photo it would appear this is also noticeable for other timbers which appear not to be adequately sitting on the joist presenting further risk for future failures.

 

An ambulance was called.  I was assisted to the bed in the lodge and my leg elevated with a wet towel placed on it to reduce the pain and attempt to minimise any swelling. Immediately my right leg was noticeably larger than my left as the swelling began.

I was taken to the 24hour Emergency Medical Care in Kasane and assessed. I was struggling to mobilise but there were no crutches available for purchase so the ambulance personnel took me to another pharmacy in town but they also had no crutches to assist me (I had to wait until I arrived in Zimbabwe to be able to purchase crutches to assist mobilising).  A representative from Nature Travel Namibia has only every made one contact to check in on how I was doing, they had been made aware of the incident by their supplier.

On the 15^th of September my friend and I had to travel back to New Zealand. This would take 24 hours of travel and three flights.  This part of the trip was significantly difficult, the pain was severe for the 11 hours of flying, I was unable to get relief from it and mobilising on the plane was difficult.

On arrival back in New Zealand I was able to make my way to my home and visited our emergency clinic on the 17^th of September to register my injury with our health system and get medical assessment and treatment.

INJURIES AND TREATMENT

On return to New Zealand I attended the A and E clinic. I was initially diagnosed with:

·       crush injury of the right lower leg, (this should have read upper leg and required correction)

·       significant haematoma (contusion) on the right thigh

·       sprain to the right hip/thigh

I was prescribed paracetamol and ibuprofen for the pain.  The x-ray evidenced no fractures but a large haematoma measuring 10cm on the lateral aspect of the right thigh.  The radiologist recommended ultrasound for further assessment.   The ultrasound was completed on the 18^th of September.  The radiologist reported a crush injury to the right thigh with a large lateral thigh haematoma.  The findings found no evidence for a DVT.  However it did identify the presence of a heterogeneous fluid collection consistent with a degloving injury or Morel-Lavallee Lesion.  This is a serious injury that has caused severe pain and disability.

As the main swelling reduces I am left with a noticeable disfigurement in the form of an indentation in the inner aspect of my right thigh.  This was reviewed with the ultrasound scan is a permanent disfigurement.

NATURE TRAVEL NAMIBIA’S RESPONSE

Nature Travel Namibia accepted a duty of care when they organised the tour, arranged all excursions and accommodation and took the money paid.  They advertised on their website that they held Public Liability Insurance, providing a false impression that should anything happened they would be in a position to assist. The lodge where the incident occurred have met their obligation.

I have only had one contact from Nature Travel Namibia when the incident happened.  There has been no other enquiry as to how their client was doing.  When I contacted them regarding their insurance they have been elusive, and instead of acting in a professional manner, have chosen to ignore their responsibilities and instead tie the situation up with lawyers.

MY WARNING: Be careful of who you book through, you are trusting your wellbeing to the tour operator, they may allege that they are ethical and carry public liability insurance, but this does not mean that they will honour their professional, moral and ethical obligation.

CURRENT STATUS

It has been 7 months now since the accident. I am still only working part-time but ironically with the Covid lockdown my leg is finally getting time to heal and is improving. I am more mobile but not able to do what I did prior to the accident.

I still haven’t been contacted by NATURE TRAVEL NAMIBIA.  They have shown no good faith, duty of care or any professionalism in this situation.  While I accept that I am trying to get some recognition by a company that chooses to forgo any duty of care for its clients, my focus now is just to warn others to be careful, we researched and took them at their word, lesson learnt!

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