Mountain Bike Accident in Canada: $72,000 Travel Insurance Claim

'Lights off' - The Accident That Changed Everything

For Aleix Diaz, a trip to Canada was supposed to be the kind of mountain biking adventure riders dream about for years. Two weeks away, starting with a week in Whistler before joining a prepaid tour across other riding locations, promised a thrilling trip through one of the world’s most iconic mountain biking destinations.

“That first week in Whistler for me was mind-blowing,” he said. “It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. We were riding for a week and it was amazing.”

Then, in an instant, the dream trip changed. On a large jump, around 20 metres by his recollection, Aleix came up short. Instead of clearing the gap and landing smoothly on the downhill landing ramp, his back wheel struck the edge of the landing, stopping the bike’s momentum and tipping him over his handlebars.

“Then, lights off,” he said. “I don’t remember anything else.”

Something Was 'Badly Wrong'

When he regained consciousness, Aleix felt disorientated and was unable to remember his own name. His friends, alarmed by the fall and his confusion, called the local patrol. He later learned he had been unconscious for around five minutes and confused and disoriented for another ten.

The first questions from patrol were confronting: could he feel his legs? Could he move? Aleix could do so, but when asked to try standing, it was clear something was badly wrong.

“As soon as I put weight on my right leg, I felt something was loose inside me,” he said. “I said, ‘No, no, I can’t walk.’ I was absolutely in pain and didn’t know what was happening.”

Patrol transported him down the mountain and to the Whistler medical centre, where a CT scan quickly confirmed the severity of the injury. Aleix had suffered a serious pelvic fracture and would need to be transferred to Vancouver General Hospital for surgery.

A Confronting Injury

For an experienced rider who had raced in Australia and described mountain biking as his main hobby, it was a shock.

“I’ve broken bones before, but not like this,” he said. “I got told that I broke it in four pieces.”

The injury would require two plates and six or seven screws in his pelvis, followed by six weeks without putting any weight on his right leg.

As Aleix came to terms with what had happened, he also had to deal with the practicalities of being seriously injured overseas. One of the first questions at the medical centre was whether he had insurance. Thankfully, Aleix did.

“You always have that uncertainty,” he said of his travel insurance. “Is it going to be an easy process? Am I going to have to first pay? How much is this going to cost? At the beginning it was a little bit stressful.”

However, much to his relief, his experience with 1Cover quickly became stress-free. According to Aleix, 1Cover communicated with him swiftly and worked directly with the hospitals in the background. By the time he later received invoices from Canada and forwarded them on, the response was simple: the bills had already been paid.

“I did not have to chase for anything,” he said. “The hospitals were communicating directly with you guys. That was 10 out of 10.”

'I Would Have Had To Sell My Car'

His total claim came to roughly $72,000, a figure that left him taken aback. Without insurance, Aleix says, the financial consequences would have been significant.

“If I had to pay for it, I would have had to sell my car,” he said. “$316, I think I paid for the cover, saved me a lot of headaches, money… it was the best $300 I ever spent.”

But it wasn’t just the medical costs that shaped Aleix’s experience. 1Cover also arranged a hotel while he waited to fly home, a business-class flight so he could travel safely, and assistance at the airport to help him get home.

Being injured and travelling alone made that support particularly important.

“I was on my own when all this happened and I couldn’t even look after myself,” he said. “You looked after me in every single aspect.”

For travellers planning adventurous activities, Aleix is clear that having the right cover matters. He had paid extra for Adventure Sports cover, which gave him cover for the mountain biking he was doing.

“Just get it,” he said. “You don’t want to need it and not have it. It’s just not worth it… it’s a no-brainer.”