UPDATE: |Pub landlord ‘held hostage’ by insurance after becoming paralysed on holiday News

Robert Atkinson had been on holiday to Spain when he fell ill

A pub landlord left paralysed while on holiday in Spain is being ‘held hostage’ by an insurance firm over a glass of wine with his dinner. Robert Atkinson, 67, had been visiting Spain with his wife Carol, 64, when his legs collapsed from under him as he was finishing a meal.

After going to bed Mr Atkinson woke up the following morning paralysed, and was rushed to hospital. Now his family say that his travel insurance is refusing to pay out the cost of his medical bills while he was on holiday.

Daughter Amanda Liddle says that the family have been “left alone” to cover the costs. She claimed that this was after insurance company Zurich “refused” to pay because of a factor that the couple had “no idea” about.

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She shared that these factors included Mr Atkinson unwittingly being taken to a private hospital during his medical emergency, that he had not shared all medication he had been taking, and that he had alcohol in his blood when admitted.

Amanda said: “This situation has just made everything 100 times worse.

“You never expect to go on holiday and fall ill – you expect to be looked after and not caught out for clauses you didn’t know about.”

Mr Atkinson had been enjoying a glass of wine with dinner when his legs collapsed. He managed to get himself to bed by using a mobility scooter, but woke up the following day paralysed from the waist down.

Amanda has accused the company of “abusing loopholes” to avoid having to pay out.

She said: “It is just shocking and we feel we have been taken advantage of.

“My mum was in absolute shock when he was being taken to hospital and she had plenty of other things on her mind other than which one he was being taken too.

“It’s unfair to expect her to know which hospitals were private and which weren’t – she can’t speak the language and has been using translation app to speak to the nurses.”

“I mean who goes on holiday to not have a drink – it is ridiculous – it’s not as if the wine he had drank had caused his injury.”

Amanda said that Zurich “null and voided” the claim after the alcohol came back, and says that medication included everything he had taken.

She said: “They expected him to have included any medication he had taken in the past year which included simple stuff like paracetamol and ibuprofen.”

“It is really frustrating as I don’t think many people including us realised the importance of such small details.”

Now the family has set up a GoFundMe to help raise the funds to get

She said: “I have set up a GoFundMe for him there has also been lots of support pouring in with donations.

“Robs favourite rugby team Acorn have also made a generous donation.

“We will also be running a fun Easter event of Rob’s pub this Easter weekend to hopefully raise some more money for him.”

Amanda added: “We just need him back in the UK so he can be treated properly and so we can all understand what is going on.”

“We haven’t been told anything really about his tumour yet.

“Once he is home then we can all start to recover.”