'I broke my back on holiday and now face a £10k bill – despite having insurance'

'I broke my back on holiday and now face a £10k bill – despite having insurance' Chloe Barker, 22, from Halifax, was left with a broken back after a freak accident in a Prague bar – and her travel insurance covers her medical bills but not the £10,000 cost of getting her home A young British woman who suffered a broken back following a freak accident in a Prague bar is now staring at a bill of up to £10,000 before she can get home. Chloe Barker has discovered that the travel insurance she purchased ahead of her city break in the Czech capital doesn't cover medical repatriation. Chloe, 22, explained: "I'm really scared, the hospital is doing a good job but there's a language barrier and I'm in a lot of pain. I've never had anything like medical treatments or anything so I'm really scared and I was really sad." While her travel insurance policy is taking care of Chloe's medical expenses, it contains no provision for bringing her back to the UK. Given the severity of her injuries, Chloe is unable to travel on a commercial flight and would require either a specialised air ambulance or would have to endure a lengthy, arduous 990-mile journey home to Halifax by road. The anticipated cost of medical repatriation, depending on whichever method she ultimately selects, will leave Chloe facing a bill of between £7,000 and £10,000. Chloe's friend Sophia Andrews has launched a fundraiser to help cover the cost of Chloe's medical repatriation. Sophia, who is from Huddersfield, said: "She had only been there one day, bless her. "She was sat on a high bar stool and someone just walked past quickly and knocked her off it, falling backwards so she landed straight on her back and folded herself over. "She had to go for a CT scan to see the extent of the injuries, it's a fracture in the lower spine. "She's undergone one spinal surgery, so she's had to have metal screws and rods placed there to stabilise it and a bone graft on her hip as well but she's having to have a second [operation]." Chloe is permitted just four hours of visits per day, leaving her feeling deeply isolated. "She's been told roughly around seven days before she can come home but it does all sort of depend on the recovery," Sophie explained. "It's also a way of trying to figure out how to get her home at the minute because she's obviously not allowed to fly commercially, she's been told she's not allowed to sit or anything like that for three months. "It's either a medical ambulance [that] they're going to have to drive her back in with obviously paramedics onboard as well, or an air ambulance. "But it depends on the situation afterwards what they think will be better for her. She's been told it will cost from £7,000 to £10,000." Alongside the expense of getting Chloe home, Sophia admits the family remains uncertain about her recovery timeline and when she'll be fit enough to return to work. You can donate to Chloe's GoFundMe here. Sophia, 21, said: "It's definitely a state of shock really for her and feeling really bad for it physically and mentally I imagine is a lot for her. "It's awful to think of her in that situation and know you can't really do anything for her."