A groom-to-be was left in a coma after a horror 20ft fall from a wall just two hours and a couple of beers into his Lanzarote stag do. Dan Bevis, 25, flew out to Puerto Del Carmen on May 1 and headed out for drinks after dropping his bags off at their hotel. Just two hours and three pints later, he went outside the first bar to where his friend was sitting on a wall. The dad-of-one sat on the 'really rusty' wall and fell backwards, plummeting 20ft onto the pavement below headfirst.
Dan suffered such a traumatic brain injury that his friend was left 'holding his head together' in a desperate bid to stop the bleeding until an ambulance rushed him to hospital. There, the self-employed plumber and carpenter was taken to intensive care and put in a coma due to a brain bleed, fracture behind his ear, broken collarbone, and broken sternum. His fiancée, Kirsty Elvins, 27, flew out with their son Grayson, one, to be with him before he was able to fly home on May 19.
Travel Insurance Coverage
As Dan had consumed little alcohol, his travel insurance covered his medical expenses. Currently off work and recovering at home, his family have set up a GoFundMe to help cover bills ahead of their July 3 wedding. Kirsty, from Alcester, Warwickshire, said: 'I literally screamed when I found out. They had quite a late flight, checked into the hotel, dropped all their stuff off, and they'd only been out in the first bar for a couple of hours. One of his friends was sitting on the wall so he went to check on him. He went across a small road to where the wall was, went to sit on the wall but the rail was really rusty and not secure. As he went to sit, he went straight backwards and fell nearly 20ft.'
Three ambulances and the police attended. Dan was unconscious with blood pouring from his head, so a friend held his head together to try to stop the bleeding. The paramedics did not tell the others if he was alive. Kirsty added: 'The first thing you think is I need to get a flight there, but by this point he wasn't stable.'
Recovery and Wedding Plans
Dan had a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) which covered his medical expenses. Kirsty said: 'A lot of people presumed just because he was on his stag do, I bet he was really drunk. If the travel insurance thought that, they wouldn't be trying to help us. He'd only had a couple of beers. It was very touch and go. My advice would be to make sure everyone's got their GHIC card; travel insurance is such a big thing.'
Just weeks away from their dream wedding, Kirsty is hopeful Dan will recover enough to walk down the aisle, though he will still need a wheelchair as he gets tired and dizzy. She said: 'The wedding is coming around so quick. We've paid 75% of everything, but now it's the final payments. A lot of what we had put aside we had to use to prioritise getting Dan sorted. Luckily the medical expenses are covered, but we still had to pay for quite a lot while we were there. He's not going to be able to go back to work for at least four to six weeks. When Dan got checked over, they said he can walk short distances but will need a wheelchair because he gets dizzy. I was just hoping he would go and have the best time, and then he suffered a really bad accident. This is a freak accident that has happened, and you just never know.'
