American woman attacked on holiday warns others to take out full travel insurance

A young woman who was attacked by a stranger on holiday has urged fellow travellers to check their insurance, after foreign medical bills left her thousands out of pocket.

Until earlier this year, 27-year-old Jordan Katherine was a confident globetrotter, eager to explore the world and meet new people.

But while travelling in Sri Lanka in March, the Texas native says she suffered a brutal attack at the hands of a total stranger.

Hours of surgery and months of rehabilitation later, she’s finally on the road to recovery.

But she has an urgent warning for fellow travellers - check your insurance, or risk massive medical bills.

“I decided to share my story to bring light to the mistakes that I made regarding medical needs abroad and to hopefully save someone from what I went through,” she says.

Here’s why you need travel insurance while abroad - and how to make sure you get the right cover.

Katherine was attacked in a bar in Midigama, a Sri Lankan coastal village. After she “politely declined” a large group’s request that she give up her seat, she claims that one of the men then threw a glass “as hard as he could” at her - “almost like a baseball.”

The glass shattered in Katherine’s face, splintering into her eyes and mouth and cutting her lip wide open. Katherine had to undergo three hours of surgery, receiving stitches in four different areas of her face.

But apart from the mental and physical scarring, she has also faced a huge financial toll.

Unbeknownst to her, her travel insurance expired shortly before the attack.

“It has been an expensive journey,” she says.

Sadly, Katherine’s insurance nightmare isn’t uncommon. In 2019, a UK teenager was saddled with €140,000 medical bills after a freak scooter accident left her in American