A holidaymaker almost bled to death after she slashed her hand on a vodka bottle and severed an artery.
Jessica Duckworth then had to convince insurers she was SOBER at the time, or pay a £60,000 bill for her medical care in Greece.
The 23-year-old beautician from Burnley, Lancashire, accidentally smashed a three-litre bottle of Smirnoff when she tripped on the holiday island of Zante, and cut her right hand.
"For a split second I was gutted I'd smashed and wasted the alcohol before I stood up and went into shock,” she said.
"There was so much blood coming from my hand, I couldn’t feel it or move it. My friends didn’t know what to do. It all happened very fast."
She had to learn to write again after the accident, two years ago, and took four months off work after severing an artery during the accident.
It had severed her artery and she could have bled to death but a quick-thinking Greek boy took off his shirt and wrapped it around her hand to stop blood gushing out.
He took Jessica to a local clinic and doctors battled to stop the bleeding. She blacked out and had a fit from the shock and blood loss.
Doctors checked her blood for alcohol and her insurance details to make sure she was covered.
She said: "They couldn't speak any English. They were doing all sorts with me to stabilise me and get me sorted. I had to wait at the clinic for an hour for a doctor to come who could speak English to explain everything. He told me the damage and the plan to fix my hand.
"I drink anything on holiday; vodka, tequila, gin and jagerbomb. It was lucky I hadn't drunk anything at all or it would have invalidated my insurance.
"It would have cost me £60,000 which I just wouldn't have had - I could have died if I'd had been drinking."
She was given a bed, pain relief and then a doctor took her in an emergency ferry to Athens where plastic surgeons removed glass and re-attached her nerves and tendons during an eight-hour operation. She spent a further week in hospital and needed intensive physio.
Doctors warned the former office worker she may never use her right hand again - but two years later she has re-trained to be a beautician and opened her own salon.
The former office worker said: "I didn't think I would use my hand 100 per cent again but I was determined to do physio and get the use back. I trained doing individual courses for my beauty business.
"I am now two years on and I have 90-95% of my hand usage back but not much feeling.
"I have a muscle missing in my thumb that’s only noticeable once pointed out so I’m very lucky. I now have my own beauty business where I’m using my hands daily for delicate things. It’s a bit annoying as I drop a lot of things."
Brits abroad only need to have a blood alcohol level that exceeds 0.19pc - approximately four pints of beer or three glasses of wine - to be told that they won't be covered.
Unsuspecting travellers who suffer trips, bumps, cuts and broken bones are being forced to shell out for hefty medical bills because the 'booze clause' is buried in the small print of insurance policies.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) help 3,000 Brits who need emergency medical treatment abroad every week but said that cover is invalidated if they drink so much that they 'act dangerously' or 'are out of control'.
They said: "Insurers don’t turn down claims lightly and would get evidence from other people who were there and from medical professionals before making such a decision."
Tourists are being forced to turn to the Financial Services Ombudsman – who can order insurers to meet the cost of medical bills plus interest if no evidence of heavy drinking is available.
The Ombudsman said there had been a huge increase in complaints. A spokesman said: "In 2018/19, we received 3,581 complaints about travel insurance - a 13 per cent increase from the previous year."
