The importance of obtaining
backpacker travel insurance for trips to Australia and New Zealand has been highlighted by the travails of a German tourist in the southern hemisphere.
Julia Jahn, 20, was on a kayaking trip in New Zealand when she became trapped in the river and was forced to hold her head above water while a fellow traveller paddled downstream in search of help, the Dominion Post reports.
Englishman Jack Marsden-Mayer, 29, was Ms Jahn's hero after navigating a 30.5 kilometre stretch of the River Whanganui on the North Island in search of a radio with which to call the police.
By contacting the authorities, Mr Marsden-Mayer put in motion a chain of events which saw Ms Jahn rescued by three farmers with a jet boat and then transported to hospital in a rescue helicopter.
Ms Jahn had spent the time between being left by Mr Marsden-Mayer and found by the farmers slipping in and out of consciousness and contracting hypothermia.
However, she said her unshakable determination helped her survive the ordeal.
"I was thinking I want to survive. I'm still young. I don't want to die, so I had such a big will to live," she told the newspaper.
Backpackers thinking of kayaking in New Zealand or Australia need to ensure they are covered by their
cheap travel insurance.
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