A week ago we told you about cruise visitor Patricia Pate after a fence at the Tourism Village fell on her. The report we got was that she had a hairline fracture and after 24 to 48 of immobilization, she could move around.
For most of us in the media, that was the end of it: a brief hospital stay, and then she'd be flown home to Kansas. But, not so fast, nor so easy. Tonight Miss Pate is still at the Universal Hospital with a pelvis that's broken in two places. Her husband Gene Sears today confirmed that she can't sit up or walk. Still Sears says they're waiting to fly home but because of his wife's condition, nothing can be done.
Sears says they can't fly home because the Fort Street Tourism Village will not pay for air ambulance. Manager of the Village James Nisbet says that the air ambulance would have cost US$35,000, and because medically it is not required, their insurance will not cover it. But commercial airlines will also not allow her to fly because of strict FAA regulation, so for the time being, Pate and her husband are stuck here. They are trying to get a release from the doctor which will allow them to fly on a commercial flight to Texas. After that they have to fly to Wichita Oklahoma, and then take a ground ambulance to their home in Kansas.
Patricia pate is 60 years old, and she works two jobs. Her husband says that he expects her to miss as many as 6 months of work as she has to undergo major physical therapy to re-learn how to walk.
