Hawaii holiday disaster could have cost Aussie couple $400,000: ‘Staggering’

A relaxing trip to Hawaii for Elizabeth and Andrew Rump took a dramatic turn that no one could have anticipated and they’re still paying for it years later – but it could have been so much worse.

Elizabeth, a retired school principal from Sydney, says the trip in September 2023, was meant to be a restorative holiday after a year filled with personal challenges.

“The prior year, we postponed our holiday to Hawaii for our 40th wedding anniversary, because my mum was diagnosed with cancer and was very ill,” Elizabeth, 60, says.

READ MORE: Airport hotel hack that can really change the way you travel

“Then after double checking with mum and all her doctors we decided to go this year. Just so we could get a little break and then come back and start everything again.”

However, just days into their trip Elizabeth would suffer a harrowing experience with ongoing consequences.

READ MORE: ‘Never again’: 7 things I learned after my baby’s first long-haul flight

These are the best emerging travel destinations for 2025

An escalating crisis

After a few blissful days exploring Kauai, Elizabeth and Andrew, 63, arrived in Honolulu, ready to unwind at the Hyatt Regency Resort.

But moments after stepping on the hotel’s escalator, Andrew lost his balance and fell backward, knocking Elizabeth over. The force of the fall was so severe that Elizabeth blacked out, hitting her head and shattering her leg in multiple places.

“The escalator was still going. The last thing I remember was coming to at the top of the escalator with my leg splayed one way. I remember snippets and my blood being washed off the escalator.”

READ MORE: The most ‘on-time’ airlines in the world have been revealed

Shortly after arriving to the ER, doctors confirmed the severity of Elizabeth’s injuries.

“I had severely fractured the top of my tibia. It had cracked in three different places. I also had bone marrow come out and I lost a bit of blood when the initial injury happened. The doctors all said, ‘geez, it’s a pretty bad injury.’ I thought, yeah, tell me about it.”

After having her surgery scheduled for the following day, Elizabeth developed sudden complications that required it to be moved forward.

“During the night I developed what they call ‘compartment syndrome’ where your leg swells up. If they don’t release the pressure, you can lose your leg. The pain was just terrible. I’ve never experienced such pain in my life and I’ve had two children.”

An uphill battle

After three surgical procedures, Elizabeth was then transferred to a rehabilitation centre in Hawaii.

“I spent 16 days in Queens hospital, the mainstream surgical trauma hospital, and then 1Cover approved me being transferred to the rehab hospital to learn how to manage myself and build up my strength. I had about three and a half hours of therapy a day. So that actually helped a great deal.”

Following 26 days in Hawaii the Rump’s were given the all-clear to fly home.

“Once I was cleared it was easy. I had to go business class, and I needed a wheelchair to get on the plane and then off the plane. That was all organised by travel insurance which was great. We got onto the flight, flew to Sydney where someone waited for me to get me off the flight. We were then jumped ahead of the queue, got a taxi and made our way home.”

A year later, Elizabeth is on the mend despite physical challenges and yet another surgery to manage a postoperative infection.

Following her stressful ordeal, Elizabeth says she is grateful for her recovery and that her significant expenses were taken care of by her insurer.

Elizabeth says that having the support of her travel insurer made all the difference when it came to managing a crisis.

“Luckily, when the accident happened, I had all my travel and insurance documents in my handbag with me. Of course, the first thing ER asks you is, ‘do you have insurance?’ Andrew said ‘yes, and these are the details.’ That’s how easy the process was.”

A word of warning

All up, the Rump’s staggering travel insurance claim amounted to just under $400,000, including the cost of Elizabeth’s emergency surgeries, hospitalisation, rehabilitation treatment, flight changes and upgrades.

Andrew Rump says the situation would have been far more dire.

“To be able to pay that ourselves, we basically would have taken a mortgage on the house or sell the house. If you are thinking of going overseas without insurance, you need your head read. It’s a no brainer.”

Reflecting on her ordeal, Elizabeth has become a strong advocate for the importance of comprehensive travel insurance.

Her tip to other travellers is clear: “My advice would be to always make sure you’ve got your insurance. Unfortunately, things do happen. When people ask me my story I just say if you’re planning to travel, make sure you have total insurance.”

While her incident hasn’t quashed her love of travel, she admits she hesitates before getting on an escalator.

“Now, I look at them differently. If you have suitcases I would take the lift, no matter what. Just go and look and find it. Be aware of the best way to manoeuvre, particularly when you’ve got big cases.”