British mother breaks her back in Skiathos quad bike crash and is left with a £28,000 bill after her insurance excluded the vehicles

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.

Diane Steadman, 61, of Studley, Warwickshire, sustained two broken vertebrae when a car struck the quad bike she and partner Mick Raftery, 64, were riding on the final day of their £2,200 Skiathos holiday on September 11. Her travel insurer refused to cover the claim because quad bikes were excluded under her policy. Unable to afford a £40,000 operation in Greece, she fundraised £28,000 for an air ambulance to bring her back to the UK on September 30 and is now awaiting back surgery there.

The couple had been heading to the rental company to drop off the quad bike when the car driver struck them from behind, leaving both of them thrown from the vehicle.

'I felt a jump in my back and I don't remember anything else — I tried to be strong but I'm so frightened, I feel like I'm going to die,' Steadman said from her hospital bed.

Steadman says she will never travel abroad again, while Raftery is urging holidaymakers to read the fine detail of their insurance policy before hiring any vehicle.