Suffering a medical setback when traveling is always a major setback. There is nothing worse than visiting another place for leisure or business and having an illness ruin your plans. If, in addition, the trip occurs outside of Spain, the complications multiply. The European health card helps cover difficulties in countries of the union, but beyond the old continent the situation worsens seriously.
That is the case in which Jaime Cuesta finds himself, a teacher from Valencina de la Concepción (Seville) who asks for help to return to Spain, after suffering a serious traffic accident in Bali. The educator has had to launch a crowdfunding page through the GoFundMe platform, with the goal of raising 20,000 euros to pay his hospital bills and be able to continue treatment back home.
“Hello. My name is Jaime and I am hospitalized in Bali, Indonesia, where since January I have been working as a teacher at the Sekolah Lentera Kasih International School. I suffered a traffic accident, falling off my motorcycle at night, and I was admitted urgently and 4 operations were performed to reconstruct my jaw, nose, right ear and multiple wounds on my face. I have lost teeth and will need subsequent surgeries in Spain,” he explained in the description of the page.
“I have a four-month contract in which it is specified that I would be provided with a Social Worker Visa, which would have allowed me to be insured. However, the school has kept me in an illegal situation, with a tourist visa, knowingly breaking what was agreed and telling me that I do not have to hide that I work here. “My family and I are trying to take me to Spain and continue healing there,” she continued.
“I need to pay a medical bill that keeps increasing, the hospital where I am (Ngoerah) refuses to give me food or treatment if they do not receive money, I had to wait almost two days to undergo surgery for the same reason and they do not explain bills or even pick up the phone from my relatives. I am alone in this country and I have no other means than to ask for help,” he concluded. At the time of writing these lines, a total of 16,150 euros have been raised.
The program Y Ahora Sonsoles on Antena 3 has investigated the matter, revealing that he currently owes 11,000 euros to the hospital and that they would be hindering him from adding amounts to the bill. The embassy documents are also getting complicated, and in recent days he has only eaten milk, soup and water. Likewise, he feels that it is nonsense that his bills change every few hours of the day, generating even more confusion.
Cuesta’s family has also spoken live during the broadcast of the program. They have highlighted the good work and attitude of the Bali consul, but they also get the feeling that everything is a problem at the embassy. Likewise, they denounce the lack of communication and remote procedures, not wanting to operate on him in the hospital if all the money did not arrive and leaving them in the dark during the 6 hours of operation.
