Chloe Foster, 26, was left with severe leg and facial injuries
A backpacker says she was left for dead at a roadside after being thrown off a motorbike in Thailand. Chloe Foster, 26, was a passenger on the bike when it flipped over, and the rider fled the scene without calling for help.
She said the incident happened in the early hours of Saturday after a full moon party on the island of Ko Phangan. After unsuccessfully trying to flag down a taxi at the end of the night, a man offered her a lift home on the back of his motorbike.
Chloe, from Rochester, Kent, said: “I just felt that because he was a British guy and he was local to my area, that I was safe. Unfortunately, I said yes – though looking back, I obviously wish I hadn’t. It was a bad judgment of character on my end.
“There are quite a lot of mountains around, and it’s all uphill, and he was going pretty fast, considering the situation. It must have been about 30-40mph. Then he crashed, and the whole bike flipped, and I ended up five meters away from it.”
Chloe, who was knocked unconscious, says she does not recall much of what happened after, but was helped by a group of strangers. She said: “They later filled me in on what had happened. One of the girls had found his phone, so he asked for it back, and when they turned around, he had gone. This was obviously before he’d even called for help or waited for an ambulance for my behalf.”
A nearby doctor came to assist Chloe, and the ambulance arrived around 20 minutes later. But it was not until the following day in hospital that she learned what had happened. It was there that it was revealed she had suffered a broken foot and fractured face, as well as major swelling and bruising.
Chloe said: “I was on quite a lot of pain relief, so I didn’t even know who I was, where I was. I just felt so scared and overwhelmed. It’s a small island, and they [the staff] are obviously all Thai. I was screaming, crying for help, and they just didn’t understand me.
“It is the worst situation I’ve ever been in in my entire life.”
After almost a week in the hospital, Chloe was discharged on Wednesday, but was stunned when she was told she owed £4,000 for the cost of her treatment. Though she had insurance, there had been a discrepancy in her coverage and it was only valid if she had flown directly from the UK, not Vietnam, where she had visited before flying to Thailand.
“In the first few days at the hospital, the insurance lady who worked there told me it was fine,” Chloe added. “Obviously, she didn’t work directly for my insurance company, but she just worked there as a basis to help people, so I felt reassured that I was covered.
“Then yesterday, when they said it isn’t, I was just completely shocked and overwhelmed.”
Her mum flew out this week and her family have helped her pay off half the money. A GoFundMe has been set up to cover the remaining costs – but, with a long healing journey ahead, it’s likely she will need more treatment. A police report for the crash has also been filed with Thai authorities.
They have been provided with witnesses of the accident, as well as videos of the driver. Unfortunately, his name remains unknown.
