Services Provided: Medical Repatriation, Medical Monitoring, Compassionate Visit, Lost Luggage Assistance.

Last year, Jenna* and her friends decided to spend their senior-year Spring Break vacation in Turks and Caicos. Towards the end of the trip, Jenna fell and severely injured her left ankle as her and her friends were having fun practicing gymnastics on the beach. She was taken to a local hospital where she was diagnosed with a fractured ankle and a foot dislocation. Because of the extent of her injuries, she needed surgery to stabilize her ankle and ensure proper foot alignment during the healing process.

Her father notified Scholastic Emergency Services (SES) of Jenna’s situation. A medical coordinator contacted the local treating team to verify that she was getting the best care possible and to discuss the treatment and recovery plan. Since her friends were flying back to the U.S. the next day and Jenna needed to stay at least another week to recover from the surgery, SES organized and paid for her father to travel to Turks and Caicos to be at her side.

Upon his arrival, her father realized that, in the midst of the accident, his daughter’s beach bag with all of her snorkel materials had gone missing. The SES coordinator contacted some of her friends and the resort to find out what had happened to the bag. Thankfully, the bag had been found on the beach and brought to the resort’s reception. SES arranged for an employee of the resort to bring the bag to the hospital.

After a few days of convalescence, Jenna was cleared for travel. SES arranged for her repatriation back to the U.S. via first-class commercial flight accompanied by her father who served as her non-medical escort. Upon their safe return home, the father informed SES that the trip had been seamless, and that Jenna was set to meet with her physical therapist to start her recovery process as soon as possible.