Hi, my name is Jude O’Connor.

For those who don’t know me or my family, thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Last month, just 6 days into what was meant to be a 2-month trip in Thailand, I was involved in a serious motorbike accident. Another bike pulled out on me, throwing me into a parked car.

I suffered multiple injuries including a broken shoulder, broken arm, broken nose, and a completely shattered elbow. I was taken to hospital and told I urgently needed surgery. After days of waiting in pain for the insurance to get back to us, we were informed that my insurance would not cover the costs due to exclusions I wasn’t aware of.

Although I had travel insurance and an International Driving Permit, I later found out I wasn’t covered. I was riding a 125cc bike (the smallest commonly available in Thailand), but my policy only covered up to 50cc.

This left us with no choice but to go ahead with essential surgery privately. I spent nearly two weeks in hospital in Thailand with my parents having to fly out to bring me home. This was an extremely difficult process with trying to get my Fit-To-Fly form + the Surgeon’s approval.

Since returning to the UK, I’ve had complex reconstructive surgery and now face 6 months to a year of physio and recovery ahead.

The total cost of everything has been around £23,000, which my parents have had to borrow, putting a huge financial strain on my family.

I’ve set up this GoFundMe to try and raise £17,500 to help ease that burden and support my family who have done everything to help me through this. I feel incredibly guilty that they’ve been put in this position because of my accident, and this is my way of trying to give something back to them.

At the same time, I also want to raise awareness so others double-check their insurance when travelling, as I believed I was fully covered and found out too late that I wasn’t. I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through this.

Any donation, no matter how small, would mean the world to me and my family. Even sharing this page helps more than you know.

Thank you so much for your support.

Jude x