Wow.
We just had that call no parent wants. Thankfully it turned out not too bad.
My 32yr old son crashed his mtb while riding alone in Switzerland. He scored a helicopter ride to Sion hospital (the Rhone equivalent to Herentals?) where he had emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding and remove his spleen.
He’d had surgery before we knew anything about it!
He’s ok. Thank feck. Bikes are fun but they can hurt when they fall over!
I’m very happy to hear that the accident didn’t happen in the US. Insurance or not, I can only imagine it would have cost thousands of dollars.
Glad he’s OK. And I hope he was insured. All the best to your son!
He says he has insurance. He hasn’t had time to make the claim yet… 
Any ER visit plus surgery is going to cost thousands, especially with an internal bleed. That’s true anywhere. Maybe you meant to say that would have cost the patient thousands. That would be true if the patient wasn’t insured or was underinsured. The good part is that the patient would have still been taken care of, surgery and all, whether or not the patient was insured.
In the US the biggest burden of medical expenses falls o the middle class and the working poor. The wealth don’t have issues paying, and the folks that are covered with Medicaid or Medicare w/ Medicaid don’t have any worries about coverage……in general.
Why coverage and medical costs are so fucked up in the US is another topic for another time in another place.
I’m glad your son’s okay.
Sorry to hear that, @McCookie, but I am glad that he’s getting good care. I hope he’s out of the hospital and on the road to recovery soon.
Its bad enough being in hospital, wondering how you might pay for it must really suck. Glad we dont have to pay over here. Great news that he is all sorted David !
That had to be a tough call….best wishes for his speedy recoery.
How’s your son doing? Seems it was a nasty crash. Sion hospital does get a lot of broken outdoor people all year round, it’s located in the heart of the Swiss Alps. They even have a ski room to store the gear of injured skiers that are flown in. Anyway, I hope your son gets better soon!
Thanks Alain, he’s doing well. In fact he’s halfway home to Queenstown NZ, in business class thanks to his insurance. The surgery and recovery seems to have gone as well as could be hoped.
Did he call emergency service himself, or did someone come upon him and call? And there was cell service? I’ll be taking a Wilderness First Aid course in a few weeks, always good to hear a success story, such as it is.
A patrol guy came along just after he’d dragged himself out of the way of the drop. The patrol guy reckons he was unconscious with eyes open when he found him! 
So that guy saved his life! 
The accident was the first drop on Woooohhh at Verbier.
The rubber matt on the launch ramp slipped as he pushed off. 
Great to hear!
