Wave breaks tourist’s back
But he can’t see a doctor for 26 hours
A BRITISH holidaymaker who broke his back after being tossed in the air by a freak wave was left without access to a doctor for more than a day.
As there was only one medic on the tiny Cape Verde island of Boa Vista, 350 miles off the coast of west Africa, Shane Carter, 27, was stuck in an ill-equipped hospital coughing up blood.
Mr Carter and his fiancee Lacie Catchpole, also 27, have hit out at Thomson, claiming they were abandoned and forced to contact the UK Embassy and insurers to get an emergency flight home.
The childhood sweethearts were four days into their £2,000 five-star all-inclusive holiday to Cape Verde last month when a 10ft wave appeared out of nowhere as they paddled in the crystal-clear waters. It swept Mr Carter into the air, before dropping him on his head.
He would have been dragged out to sea had Miss Catchpole, who practises ju-jitsu, not pulled him to shore. After an agonising ambulance ride ‘bouncing up and down’ over cobbled roads, Mr Carter arrived in hospital only to endure a 26-hour wait to see the island’s only doctor.
Reliving the trauma, the company director said: ‘It just happened so quickly as soon as I hit the floor I knew I was in trouble. I thought I snapped my back as I’d broken a few bones in the past and I knew what it felt like. The pain was so intense and I just couldn’t move my legs just felt so numb and the waves were pulling me back out to sea. I thought I was going to die, it was just horrific.’
However worse was to come on arrival at hospital where staff, who spoke little English, were unable to locate the doctor, who did not answer his phone. When he did eventually arrive, the medic struggled to understand why Mr Carter was coughing up blood.
Following a brief examination, he was left in limbo for another two days – with the Thomson rep visiting only once. After seeking help from the Embassy and their insurers, the couple were able to fly home to Chelmsford, Essex, where a still bed-bound Mr Carter was treated at Broomfield Hospital. Hairdresser Miss Catchpole said: ‘Thomson’s care was just terrible, they haven’t even rung to see how we are. As soon as it happened they should have started trying to get us home.’
Thomson did not respond to requests for a comment.
‘I thought I was going to die’