A British soldier was left with a shattered femur, shattered eye socket, cheekbone, nose and skull after a horror fall (Image: Mirror)
Liam Gibson, 21, lost his footing whilst admiring the view at Na Muang Waterfall 2 in the Ko Samui District of Thailand on April 12. The Hartlepool native endured a distressing two-hour wait for rescue following his fall, which left him fearing for his life as he was “bleeding out”.
Five hours post-incident, he was transported to a local hospital for emergency surgery, where his girlfriend Lucy was confronted with a card machine to pay for the treatment.
Liam revealed to the Mirror that the medical costs amounted to £75,000, but then he was dealt another blow when his insurance company denied his claim on the basis that he had put himself “in needless danger”.
After the near-death experience, Liam was left with a femur shattered in three places, a broken arm, a crushed left hand, and severe damage to his eye socket, cheekbone, nose and skull. Now recuperating in the UK following a repatriation flight, Liam says his insurance firm have refused to pay out the maximum amount for his policy, resulting in him having to foot an exorbitant bill.
“The day of the accident, we got to the hospital,” the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) serviceman told the Mirror. Both Liam and Lucy stressed that they cannot fault the hospital, explaining that the treatment he received was phenomenal, but the trouble started when they sought to cover the medical costs through his travel insurance.
Liam and his girlfriend Lucy had been taking in the scenery at the Na Muang Waterfall 2 in the Ko Samui District when he slipped (Image: Collect)
Liam said: “The next morning, my girlfriend spoke to the insurance company and said what had happened, she went through the emergency medical side of it. My mum flew out to help with that.
“We gave them all the information they needed on days one and two. It took three weeks for them to make a decision, I was stuck in the hospital for three weeks, running up the bills. Some days were up to £1,600, the day of the surgery, one was £13,000, another was £22,000. In my eyes, it was a case of me getting fit to fly and coming home straight away.
“At the time, I thought the insurance was paying for it, obviously if I knew it was me paying for it, that’s even more of a reason I couldn’t afford to stay there.
“We’d done the repatriation,” he continued. Now recuperating at home, he revealed the flight back should have cost £35,000 but escalated to £37,500 due to additional medical staff required onboard.
Liam Gibson Thailand fall (Image: Collect)
He concluded: “The insurance decided out of the kindness of their heart, they’d cover £50,000, so I’ve had to fork out £25,000, for the medical bills. That was totalling £75,000 when I left.”
Liam, who faced a hefty £75,000 bill, felt compelled to accept an offered payout, stating he had “no choice” as the funds were not readily available to him.
In the face of soaring medical expenses, Liam’s girlfriend took to setting up a GoFundMe page as a desperate measure to help with the costs.
“I had to borrow money for the repatriation,” he said before explaining that his insurance firm had rejected his case, claiming he was engaging in deliberate or harmful acts. He branded it “ridiculous”, before adding: “There’s not one bit in the policy that states what’s acceptable, safe or unsafe footwear.”
Liam was slipping in and out of consciousness after his fall and feared he was going to die (Image: Lucy Burnett / Supplied)
In an email from his insurance firm, Admiral, which has been seen by the Mirror, the insurance group said they were unable to process Liam’s claim, with them claiming he engaged in a “reckless act” which they class as “putting yourself in needless danger” or “failing to follow recommended safety precautions” on excursions.
Liam, like many tourists visiting the waterfall, was wearing sliders due to the intense heat and humidity in the popular resort. While in Thailand, Liam attempted to get in contact with the British Embassy and Consulate but struggled to speak to a human, rather than an electronic operator.
Reflecting on the GoFundMe, he said: “It was pretty much a last-ditch effort to get what we can.” Since returning to the UK, Liam’s local MP, Jonathan Brash, has contacted Admiral to express his disappointment. Liam said: “He came to visit me in the hospital, he’s writing a letter to the insurance to get them to change their minds, he said it’s an absolute joke.”
He required urgent surgery on his skull (Image: Collect)
Liam has also received support from Forces Mutual, an organisation dedicated to enhancing the lives of those serving in HM Forces. “The CEO basically got in contact with me because he’d heard about it through the lads in the army,” he explained, adding that the CEO immediately offered to review Liam’s insurance policy.
He has now challenged Admiral’s decision and is ready to discuss his case with the ombudsman if there’s no progress. Reflecting on his fall, which occurred just over two months ago, Liam recalls the “majority” of the horrifying incident, including going over the edge.
However, he doesn’t remember his “way down.”
He required life-saving surgery in Thailand just hours after the fall (Image: Collect)
Liam was taking a photo of his surroundings when he lost his footing, slipped, and began to accelerate. While Liam didn’t fall all the way down, he landed on “a bit of rock sticking out halfway down.” His girlfriend had previously told the Mirror that if he had fallen any further, he would have “died on the spot.”
Liam recounted his harrowing experience, admitting he’s uncertain whether he can’t remember the fall because he hit his head or blocked it out mentally. “I remember slipping, then going towards the edge thinking ‘S**t, here we go,’ going over and then I remember waking up and crawling out of the water. I remember most of being at the bottom, but I was in and out of consciousness, I was pouring with blood, I wasn’t all there,” he shared.
He credits reading Lucy’s previous interview with the Mirror while in hospital for triggering the return of his memories. Reflecting on the ordeal, he remarked: “I was unlucky for what happened but since the accident, everything has been so lucky. There was a vine swinging off before I went over the edge which slowed me down.
His medical bills in Thailand were clocking up, with one costing £22,000 (Image: Lucy Burnett / Supplied)
“I landed the ledge, not the right the way down. My girlfriend came and found me, and a doctor bandaged me up. Everything from the fall was really lucky after that.” Locals and doctors told Liam he was “lucky to be alive” following the fall in the area, which they described as the “Taker of Young Souls.”
After undergoing three surgeries in Thailand, including one on his eye that proved unsuccessful and an emergency operation on his skull, Liam faced further challenges. “We got back and surgeons here did X-rays, they found that the titanium mesh under my eye was slipping, my eyeball was slipping right down behind my cheekbone,” he explained, revealing the dire situation that led to him “going blind” in that eye.
He underwent emergency surgery just two days following his X-rays.
Liam, a survivor of horrific injuries, is now on the mend at home, participating in physiotherapy and seeing medical professionals. Admiral Insurance expressed their regret to the Mirror about Liam’s predicament and acknowledged that his insurance policy’s resolution might not have met his expectations.
They remarked that Mr Gibson “knowingly undertook a risky activity despite clear warnings.”
An Admiral spokesperson commented: “We’re really sorry to hear about the injuries he has suffered and as a gesture of goodwill, we made an offer of an ex gratia payment of £50,000 to assist with medical costs and his return home.
“Mr Gibson accepted this and asked us to pay this directly to the hospital towards the medical costs incurred, which we are in the process of doing. To assess his claim, we conducted a thorough review, including a site investigation, due to the limited information Mr Gibson and his girlfriend initially provided. Based on the investigation and the statements provided by both of them, we understand Mr Gibson was injured while climbing the Na Muang waterfall and taking a photograph at the top of the waterfall, despite multiple warning signs of the dangers of slipping or falling due to the terrain and slippery rocks. The information provided to us included Mr Gibson confirming that he wasn’t wearing appropriate footwear, given the dangerous nature of the site.”
The spokesperson revealed that an agent was dispatched to the waterfall site to assess if there was sufficient warning for visitors about potential dangers. The agent provided photos as evidence, confirming the presence of numerous signs en route to the waterfall, which clearly outlined the hazards of walking, climbing, jumping, or diving in the vicinity, along with visible emergency contact numbers.
“We carefully considered all of the information, including Mr Gibson’s account of the incident, the investigator’s insights, including photographs of the site, the surrounding warning signs and the information available online about the site,” they commented. The spokesperson further explained: “Taking all this into account and given the foreseeable risk and the nature of his actions, which fall under our policy’s exclusions for reckless acts, we were unable to cover his claim.”