His refusal to pay the$ 400 it costs 64 000$

Photo Amélie St-Yves
Emmanuel Gauthier (centre) is surrounded by his parents Rejean Gauthier and Denise Cournoyer, who realize the importance of travel insurance.

Amélie St-Yves

Sunday, 18 march, 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Sunday, 18 march, 2018 01:00

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THREE RIVERS, | A man of 32 years who did not want to pay for a travel insurance of $ 400 was going to die while he caught malaria in Africa, which cost 64 000 $.

Emmanuel Gauthier promises to return to Africa to complete his journey, but he will take this time insurance.

Last month, he contracted malaria while he was in Tanzania. The hospital costs and transport back in the company of a nurse will cost 64 000 $.

A campaign sociofinancement has raised more than $ 46,000. His parents will have to pay the $ 18,000 in remaining.

The globe-trotter does not believe to have been negligent, but said to have made a bad choice.

Phone his parents

Emmanuel Gauthier has woken up weak and dizzy in a youth hostel in Tanzania, at the end of February. She was diagnosed with malaria three days later, a parasitic infection that can cause death. He was so sick he could no longer remember the phone number of his parents, which is necessary to save her life. His kidneys and his liver no longer worked.

An employee of the hospital had finally found her brother on Facebook and was contacted by.

His parents paid $ 13,000 for it to be transferred to Nairobi, Kenya. The patient did nothing more, between the nausea, the migraines, the stomach pains, the muscles, and the side effects of the medication.

“Sometimes, I hallucinais and saw people in my room. To my left, there was always a girl in white, and to my right, a guy dressed in yellow-orange. Watching tv together, ” he says.

Internet

Emmanuel Gauthier had read on the internet about malaria before you go, and believed to be able to get by with the money in his pockets, if he were to contract it. He believed that medical care would be less expensive than the 400 $ us that would have cost an insurance policy, because it was in poor countries.

He had also received the vaccine for yellow fever which is mandatory, but refused the tablets to prevent malaria.

“I told myself that I was going to get attention and that I was going to be okay. I did not understand this disease. This is not what I read. It is a blunder on my part, but I was sure that I could get out by myself, ” he says.