Sudden medical emergency costs Alberta family nearly $100K while on vacation

An Okotoks woman is calling her recent vacation a “$100,000 trip” after she suffered a health emergency and was hospitalized over 8,000 km away from home in southern Alberta.

Dione Amundson and her son Peyton were in Japan for a two-week trip this past July.

However, on day four she said she felt something ‘pop’ inside of her while she was in the washroom.

“Wasn’t sure what was going on, just that it was uncomfortable and it continued to get more and more uncomfortable,” says Dione.

Dione was taken to a nearby hospital where she was told that she had suffered a perforated intestine, infection had set in and she was septic.

Japanese doctors put her on an antibiotic treatment for a few days to treat the sepsis, but her son says it wasn’t getting any better.

“Still didn’t see 100 per cent progress,” says Peyton. “So, they did emergency surgery later that week and then it was steps from there to give her rehabilitation and getting her home.”

Dione says several family members flew down to Japan to help Peyton and his mother throughout this difficult time in a foreign country, including figuring out how to pay for his mother’s surgery.

“(The hospital) wanted me to pay either in one payment on my credit card or in cash. And I said my credit card cannot physically do that and I don’t know what bank will give me over $40,000 in foreign cash,” says Peyton.

A GoFundMe was also started by a family friend which helped raise over $20,000 to help with the unexpected expenditures.

The trip was extended by over a month with the two returning to Okotoks on Aug. 21.

They estimate with the original price of the trip and what was spent on the surgery, cancelled and return flights, hotels, as well as their lost wages from work, the entire trip cost them nearly six figures.

Dione has travel insurance through her work and is hoping they’ll reimburse about 80 per cent of the unexpected costs.

Lesley Keyter, The Travel Lady, says travellers’ insurance is always recommended to her clients when booking vacations because of incidents like there, or they might be stuck with a massive bill.

“People then go the route of GoFundMe, they’re calling the Canadian consulate,” says Keyter.

“The Canadian government is always advising people to take travel insurance, we cannot cover you for medical expenses when you’re out of the country,” she adds.

After the unexpected illness, the mother and son plan to return to Japan eventually.

“And retry the trip — do a redo,” Peyton said.

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