Son's rescue costs family €88,000

A FRENCH family has received a bill for nearly €88,000 after their son had to be repatriated from Africa after falling dangerously ill with malaria.

Matthieu Jacquet had been working as a pastry chef in Malawi when he contracted the disease, but by the time the effects left him in a coma in hospital in Blantyre he had no health insurance and, having stopped working just weeks before, no medical cover through his job.

His parents wired €2,000 to cover his medical expenses but Matthieu did not improve and doctors said that unless he received specialised treatment, he could have only 12 hours left to live.

The decision was taken to repatriate him to Réunion, the nearest part of France to Malawi, and his parents signed an agreement to pay the French government’s costs.

Now the bill has arrived: €87,596, to be repaid by September.

Faced with this, the family took to Facebook appealing for donations to help pay the bill but, while they have raised some money, several users have been less supportive, suggesting that travelling to Africa without comprehensive travel and medical insurance was irresponsible.

Each year up to 400 official repatriations are made and around half are people without the financial means to return to France.

Most of the rest are because of a crisis in the host country (civil unrest, weather, etc) and only a dozen or so are for medical reasons.

Since the family took to Facebook the French government has issued a reminder that it strongly advises people working in Africa to take out comprehensive private insurance.

People working abroad can also continue to pay into, and benefit from, the French health system via the Caisse des Français de l’Etranger, topping up as usual with a mutuelle. This is also open to EU nationals who have been living in France for at least five years. See www.cfe.fr

The family can still appeal to the government for a partial or complete cancellation of the debt and can also arrange a schedule of payments.