When Adam Szubanski found himself sprawled in the upturned jeep with his arm hanging out he was horrified to find that his little finger had almost been severed.
The British father-of-four was on holiday with his family exploring the Mexican jungle when the jeep he was driving flipped over.
In pain and in shock, it was only when as he was rushed to a hospital, hoping his little finger could be saved, that he noticed his wedding ring was also missing—along with half his ring finger.
Two months later, and Szubanski—a keen martial artist—said it has ruined his life.
“I went into the jungle with 10 fingers, I came out with eight,“ said Szubanski. ”I thought I was going on a family excursion to the jungle, but it was deadly and dangerous.”
Szubanski, 40, was exploring the Riviera Maya jungle with his three teenage sons in December, after the family had traveled to Mexico for a wedding.
He said: “The roads were washed away and there were rocks everywhere.
“We had only been driving for about 10 minutes when we went over a hill and I hit something.”
The buggy flipped over and sent him flying.
“I was laying with my arm out of the buggy—my little finger was hanging off.”
As he was rushed to the hospital, he noticed something else.
“I saw that my wedding ring finger was gone. In all the shock, somehow I hadn’t noticed. My other finger was still in the jungle.”
According to SWNS, he had to wait six hours while his insurer AXA confirmed he was covered for surgery.
Where doctors finally operated on him—without anaesthetic—they were unable to save his little finger.
He explained: “There were no anesthetics because they could take any time from two hours to three days to arrive at the hospital. So I was awake when they cut my little finger off. It was pure agony.
“They weren’t able to reattach it because six hours was too long to wait and they never found my wedding ring finger.”
His family and friends have had to club together to pay the bill for the operation, as his insurers say that driving the buggy through the jungle is not covered by his policy.
Adam is adjusting to life with just eight fingers.
“I used to train four times a week and loved martial arts and boxing. I can’t do any of it now. This has ruined my life.”
A spokesman for AXA insurance told SWNS: “Driving a Polaris Racer is considered a hazardous activity and, therefore, is not covered.”
“We aim to handle all claims in a swift and sensitive manner, and we should have told Mr Szubanski sooner that his claim would be declined—we have offered him £200 compensation for this delay.
“It is standard practice for hospitals to treat patients in a timely manner regardless of insurance cover and we were surprised and disappointed that this was not the case in this instance.
“However, such was the extent of the injury to Mr. Szubanski’s hand, that immediate treatment would not have resulted in his fingers being saved.”
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