Seems we struck a chord when we asked for your tales of travel woes and mishaps that turned your vacation world upside down. Some of your stories were alarming, others quite poignant. But one stood out as most deserving of the prize, which is an Annual Family Membership with Global Rescue—providing medical, security, and evacuation services worldwide—plus a year's membership in the Hideaways Aficionado® Club.
The winning entry was submitted by Hideaways member Melanie Maycock on behalf of her father, Thomas Maycock, who travels the world trying to make it a better place for those who are less fortunate. Hats off and congratulations to Mr. Maycock! We wish him the best—and safe travels—as he heads off June 1, 2011, for yet another rebuilding mission in Sierra Leone. To see how Global Rescue can make your own travels safer and give your family peace of mind, visit www.Hideaways.com/globalrescue.
Our Winner!
"I am entering my father, Thomas Maycock. He has traveled to Haiti, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other countries helping to rebuild them. He was in Conakry, Guinea, during the coup in 2008, and we could not get him a flight out. He makes all these trips at his own expense, and all because someone has asked him if he would help. He raised us to see how we could make the world better rather than asking how the world could make it better for us, and he has always led by example.
Currently he is off to Sierra Leone, even though he was recently rear-ended by a garbage truck and is not fully recovered. He's going because he gave his word. He shipped his own equipment. My siblings, my mom, and I would actually be able to sleep at night knowing he had the security of good medical care if needed while he was there. It would mean the world." —Melanie Maycock, Romulus, MI
Other Notable Entries
"In September 2009 in London, while getting off a double-decker bus, I felt a strange, sharp pain in my back. I hobbled back to our hotel in absolute pain. I had to crawl to the bathroom. Getting home was atrocious and our vacation was ruined. When I get home, an MRI indicated a piece of a lower disc was broken off and was hitting directly on the nerve effecting the left leg and foot. I had emergency surgery in New York City at the Hospital for Special Surgery. What an atrocity! I could have used Global Rescue!" —Kate Rivas, Tenafly, NJ
"I don't have to go very far back in my memory to relate this story. We had decided to spend this past Christmas with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons who live in Alcove, QC Canada. Our youngest son accompanied us on the drive up from Pittsburgh, while our eldest son, daughter-in-law and two other grandchildren also drove up from Pittsburgh. On the way up, my wife experienced abdominal distress and we treated it with Pepto and GasEx. We spent the overnight in Syracuse and the next morning, 12/23, we headed to Canada arriving that afternoon. The next day, her abdominal distress and severe stomach pain returned to the point that we went to the local emergency room. Eventually we were sent to another hospital for an ultrasound, and it was determined she was suffering from a gall bladder attack, but she could wait until we returned back to the US. We returned to my son's to enjoy Christmas.
Shortly after midnight the distress returned, and we took her to the same local hospital emergency room, which sent her for another ultrasound, with the diagnosis now being that her gall bladder needed to removed. Because of the Christmas holidays, there was only one operating room and one operating-room staff available to handle all emergency surgeries. My wife lay on the stretcher bed for 24 hours before she was taken in for surgery. Since we are non-French speaking, non-Canadian residents, it was very difficult to get assistance for my wife. Twenty-four hours later, still laying on the original stretcher bed she had received in the emergency room, she was discharged—but only after I had paid all her medical, doctor, and hospital expenses via cash, check, and credit card. If we knew then what we know now, we would have demanded to be medically evacuated back to Pittsburgh. We now know better!" —John Yokim, Pittsburgh, PA
"A few years ago, my husband and I flew from Phoenix to London, where we met a friend and then took the train to Olympia to attend the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF). On board the train we met our cousin at Clapham Junction, so we were a foursome heading into the festival. My husband and our friend were members of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), so they went to the members-only line. My cousin and I went to the queue for the general public. There was no one waiting in the queue, so I decided to jump over the rope barriers rather than walk up and down the lanes. On the last barrier, I caught my foot on the rope and started to fall to the ground. Knowing that I had to attend business meetings the following week, at the last moment I bent my knee to take the fall on that leg rather than landing on my hands and face. Standing up, I said to myself, 'You are not a teenager any more.'
The festival first-aid folks attended to me immediately and said to contact them if I felt I needed further assistance. After my first half-pint, I decided it might be smart to have my knee checked out. Back inside the first-aid office, we found my knee was swollen to the size of a grapefruit. The nurse wrapped it in cool wrap and told me to stay off of it. So with three fetch-and-carry boys, I returned to the festival with my knee wrapped in cool wrap. On the way back to Basingstoke where we were staying, the transition on the train at Clapham Junction was incredibly painful, despite being fairly relaxed from the beer I'd had.
Next day at North Hampshire Hospital, I learned I had broken my leg. This is where Global Rescue would have been useful, as we are from America and needed to pay for the hospitalization and the tests and setting of my leg. Furthermore, our trip was just beginning. The next stop was South Africa, where we needed to find an orthopedic doctor to take over the case. Here again, Global Rescue would have been useful. The cast was removed in South Africa before we continued our journey to Spain. We did not find any doctors near our meeting in Spain, so the physical therapy following the removal of the cast was walking up and down stairs in a Spanish castle—not a bad way to do physical therapy, although it was not monitored professionally.
Upon returning to the States, our doctor examined the X-rays and my leg and said that it had healed well and nothing further was needed. In hindsight, however, having a medical service to call upon in such a situation would have been useful." —Joyce Tokar, Scottsdale, AZ
"In 2005, I was on my first-ever trip out of the country to Greece, where my father was born. At LAX, I fell down right before boarding the plane. I limped around Greece for two weeks, unable to do all the things I had dreamed of for a lifetime. When I got back, I found out I had severely broken my knee, and due to not going to the doctor right away, it is now permanently injured. If I had had Global Rescue, I could have avoided the permanent injury to my knee and would be able to bend now." —Kat Sadi, San Luis Obispo, CA
"I was traveling in France and met up with friends to tour the Loire Valley. We were young and hitchhiked from Tours to the castles nearby. It was raining as we came home. That night I became ill with a 105-degree temperature. It subsided the next morning, so I didn't seek medical treatment. But once again, my temperature soared that night. I was taken to a local hospital and languished there until I turned yellow and was pronounced 'la petite chinoise'—the little Chinese. Hepatitis had struck me, perhaps because I had eaten so many raw oysters in Madrid that January of 1972. I thought sparkling wine would kill the germs. Twenty-four days and 20 pounds slimmer, I walked out of the hospital and trained up to Paris, then to London, and finally home to L.A. three weeks later. I should have been shipped directly home upon the realization that I had a life-threatening disease. My wicked, wicked ways caused me to have a relapse when I returned home. Who knew that drinking wine in the hospital (brought to me by equally befuddled friends before I turned yellow) was not the liquid nourishment I needed? Getting home fast with Global Rescue was my need." —Leinani Lind, Kailua, HI
"Years ago, on one of many trips to and through South America, I traveled from Brazil to Argentina at Foz do Iguau. It was an easy passing, but then there was a downpour which made the trip back to Brazil impossible for several days. I became ill, had little money, and really felt stranded. Lucky for me, a very kind Argentinean family took me in, nursed me back to health, and lent me some money. While it was wonderful to be the recipient of the kindness of strangers, I sure would have welcomed a back-up!" —Sylvia Guarino, Naples, FL
"I was in London and fell down a flight of stairs at a theater prior to viewing a play that was very difficult to get tickets to. I spent a few hours in "accident & emergency" after an ambulance ride. The injuries were three fractured bones in my left foot, torn ligaments and sprain of my right foot and ankle, a cut on my left hand, and lots of bumps and bruises. I had nothing but a temporary cast on my left foot and couldn't put any pressure on my right. The hotel in which I was staying wasn't handicap-accessible.
Thank goodness my daughter had joined me for a few days on the trip and could bring me food until I could arrange to go home on the same day she left. I didn't have trip insurance and had to pay for a full round-trip ticket to return home early, plus a limo ride to the airport. I had a miserable flight home alone as my daughter was going to a different destination. I couldn't walk to the bathroom unattended, and the flight attendants were less than enthusiastic about helping. At Philadelphia International Airport, a flight attendant abandoned me in a wheelchair next to an elevator for nearly half an hour. I also had to arrange for someone to pick up my car at the airport and bring it home to me because I couldn't drive. It was a horrible experience." —Pamela Elliott, Hazel Park, MI
"Several years ago, I scheduled a cruise around Tahiti with my husband. As we were leaving Los Angeles to fly to Papeete, I noticed the telltale signs that I might be developing a kidney stone. Sure enough, by the time we boarded the ship, that dull ache in my lower back was growing stronger. A visit to the ship's doctor was not helpful; there was little he could do besides give me painkillers and hope that the stone would pass. I was not hopeful as only a few months before I had had a kidney stone that would not pass and had to be surgically removed.
As the cruise progressed, so did my pain. The doctor said I would have to be evacuated by helicopter to Papeete if surgery were necessary, and asked if I had insurance as the cost would be over $10,000. I did not have insurance, so he arranged for me to visit a small clinic on Bora Bora when we docked there. I was escorted to the clinic by a local doctor who spoke mostly French, and then had an ultrasound at the clinic, administered by a doctor who spoke only French. The ultrasound did nothing to alleviate the pain, but I think it was done because nothing else could be done.
I continued the rest of the cruise in pain, alleviated only somewhat by various painkillers. Finally, on the last day as we were preparing to fly home, the stone passed! I'm sure the Tahitian islands are beautiful, but I was not able to appreciate them because I had no evacuation insurance to get the medical attention I needed." —Cheryl Titko, Cincinnati, OH
Finally, we thought the letter below really underscored the whole point of having the peace of mind that Global Rescue's services provide when traveling.
"I have not had a negative experience yet when traveling, but if it does happen in the future, I am hoping that if I or anyone in my family needed your [Global Rescue] service, you would be our hero."
—Stephany Freeman, Coeur d Alene, ID
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