The family of a Scots mum left with a brain injury after being hit by an SUV in America say they have been through “hell” following a dispute with insurers.
Jane Rubens, 73, from Edinburgh, remains in a coma in hospital after the incident in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 1. She has undergone multiple operations on her brain, including having part of her skull removed. Her daughter Cat has revealed her mother may not survive.
Her family say pensioner’s insurance provider, AXA Partners, initially gave them an ultimatum and said Jane would need to be flown back home to a hospital in Scotland on Wednesday, despite several medical experts advising against it.
They claim they were later told Jane’s insurance policy, which covered emergency medical care up to £15 million, would end if they did not agree.
Daughter Cat Rubens, 34, wrote on X: “As you can imagine, the past few weeks have been hell for me and my family. We are in America, trying our best to support mum.
“This already hellish situation has been made immeasurably worse by the approach taken by AXA Partners.
“We received advice from multiple neurology experts, including the neurosurgeon in the USA, that it would not be in her long-term best interests to fly her back to the UK at this acute stage of her injury.
“Despite this, AXA wrote to us on 24 Nov stating that we had to agree to repatriate Jane this coming Wednesday, 27 Nov, or they would pull the cover for her medical expenses in the USA.
“AXA would not even allow us 24 hours to make this decision.
“Backed into a corner, we had no choice but to tell AXA we agree to their repatriation plan. We have been shown zero empathy, customer care, or reasonableness from AXA during one of the darkest times of our lives.”
The company faced significant backlash after the family shared their ordeal on social media.
AXA Partners have since issued a statement apologising for any distress and said “the welfare of Ms Rubens and her family remains our priority”.
Cat and her family, flew out to their mum’s hospital bedside days after the tragedy.
Ms Rubens said the family received advice from multiple neurology experts, including a neurosurgeon in the US, that it would not be in her mother’s long-term best interests to fly her back to the UK at this “acute stage of her injury”.
She said the neurosurgeon confirmed it would be in her mother’s best interests to fly her after the craniectomy – surgery to remove a piece of her skull – had been reversed, which is three to six months down the line.
Last week, they were contacted by the insurance provider to say they intended to require her repatriation to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh this week.
The family wrote to AXA outlining the medical advice from Jane’s trauma team, as well as expert opinion from the NHS.
However, AXA insisted Jane was fit to fly via an Air Ambulance based on the medical information provided.
Ms Rubens, originally from Edinburgh, said the family do want her mother to return home to the Scottish capital – but only when it is in her medical best interests.
She added: “The key issue for me is not about whether she is technically fit to fly from A to B in one piece right now.
“From an aviation medicine perspective, it’s about whether this is the right time for her to be flown long haul across the globe when she has a traumatic brain injury.
“This is already the worst time of my life. You know, I’m so worried about my mum’s future, what her care needs might be, but actually, just whether or not she’s actually going to survive this injury at all.”
An AXA Partners spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the distress Ms. Rubens and her family have experienced when making a claim, and we sympathise with their situation.
“We have spoken with Ms. Rubens’ family and will remain in contact with them over the coming days to support them. Our medical team and Ms. Rubens’ treating doctors will agree on the best course of action going forward.
“We are considering all available options, and the welfare of Ms. Rubens and her family remains our priority.”
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