Daughter broke her arm - due to go on holiday, can I cancel?

[BrokenArmworries]

My DD8 broke her arm this week. Silly accident just in the playground, nobody’s fault. It’s quite a bad break and she has a cast on from her wrist to shoulder, so she can’t bend her arm and it’s in a sling.

we are supposed to be going on holiday next week.. all inclusive, pool and kids water slide park etc. all the things she won’t be able to do.

im gutted for her! She LOVES a pool and all she wants to do on holiday is play in the pool. She won’t be able to go on slides due to the full arm cast. We have a waterproof covering for it, but the whole arm cast makes everything quite tricky for her. She can’t put weight in it (yet).

AIBU to cancel and claim through our travel insurance? I booked the flights and hotel separately, so not a package holiday. Would travel insurance cover this?

she has to go to hospital again next week before we go on holiday to have it x-ray’d again to make sure it’s healing correctly. She will have to have it x-rayd again once we are back. They did want to see whilst we are away but said they could work around our travel dates.

other details - we are a family of 4, I have another DD11.
we have already been on a lovely holiday this summer, so if we didn’t go this time, nobody would feel they are missing out, and we could put the money towards fun things later in the year.

YABU - go on holiday and try to make the most of it.
YANBU - cancel and use the money another time.

I would go
speak to the hospital about what cast and support she has etc
she can paddle etc
not sure why you should all miss out
only cancel if the hospital say she can’t fly and you’ll need paperwork to confirm for the insurance

I would go anyway and have a look at stuff available to make it more enjoyable for her. It's a broken arm, she can still walk. It's not something I would cancel a holiday for.

I'd cancel. Poor kid. Really book for when shes better. Shed be sweating and watching everyone else having fun.

Highly unlikely they will let her fly in a cast unless it's a half cast with a bandage section as the arm will swell at altitude (my toddler broke a leg on holiday and had to have a specific cast to fly with). I would personally cancel if your excess isn't going to hit you too hard (remember excess is per person cancelled not one group- so £100 excess on your policy for a family of 4 would be £400!)

I’d cancel and do something more suited to her this time, she will be super hot with the cast on her arm too, poor kid.

You'll have to check whether your travel insurance will cover it.

Travel insurance will only pay if she is unable to fly. Most airlines say as long as the cast has been on for 48 hours flying is allowed.

I thought the same about the cast, also been in this position when Dd was younger.

I'd definitely try to cancel and claim off your insurance, if you’ve already had a holiday it’s not as bad and she’d probably be miserable, (and rightly so),which would spoil it for everyone.

Cancel. That doesnt sound fun at all.

We went on a beach holiday with ds once when he had a broken elbow but he had a soft sling support thing rather than a cast. The hospital gave us a spare so if one got wet splashing around in the sea we could change it.

But a full arm hard cast sounds miserable. Hot and heavy and limiting.

If I could claim on insurance, I would cancel. She will feel like she is missing out if there and can't join in.

There is no way I would take a child on holiday (presumably somewhere hot) with a broken arm. They are going to be miserable anyway, pain, itching etc, and to have them sit and watch their siblings/other kids on a water slide whilst they “paddle” is just going to make things worse. I think you would have to declare it to your insurance company because if they need treatment abroad (which they might) not sure it would be covered.

I would absolutely cancel.

Unless they say medically she cant fhen I dont see why she cant go, and you can try and cancel but I would be surprised it is possible without losing money

There’s not a lot to do, apart from water based activities.
This holiday I expected both kids to be semi-independent (under supervision) in the water - swimming, water polo, paddle boarding, water slides, fun on LILO’s and inflatables, playing with friends in the pool etc.

there is evening entertainment of course, but it’s a long day for a child who can’t join in the water fun! Yes she can paddle but that would entertain her for a minute or two, and I don’t actually think the pools there have a beach type shallow end as such.

I would (and did) go. DS was 4 at the time and very active, and he broke two bones in his forearm/wrist about 2 weeks before we went away. The sleeve for over the cast worked pretty well, although we had to get a new one when we came back because the seal tore from regular use! I'm sure your DD would be more careful/calmer than my chaotic little barbarian.

Big slides will be out, yes, but there is still a lot you can do to relax and enjoy the holiday. She'll be used to it by then and won't find it as difficult and clunky.

It is good advice to check with the airline but if i recall correctly they are usually fine with it these days as long as the cast has been on for a certain period of time.

And yes it’ll be hot!

I’ve been the 8 year old in a cast from fingertips to shoulder in a long hot summer and even though we were only in the UK it was utterly miserable seeing other kids get to do things I couldn’t do - and I was always pretty content in my own company sitting reading. There’s something about seeing other kids do the fun stuff that you can’t that really is miserable. It’s also no fun to have a hot and heavy cast on your arm when it’s hot outside. I would definitely cancel if possible.

Crikey we were in this situation when DS was 6. He had a cover thing for the cast (hand to shoulder). It was his right arm and it had been surgically reduced two weeks oreviously). He played cricket with his left arm, played footie, swam, and had a great time.

If the hospital don't provide an unfit to fly certificate, your insurance won't cover it. If the injury was a couple of weeks before flying, the swelling will have gone down.

If the hospital advise against then cancel. If the hospital say it's fine, crack on.

Sounds like your mind is made up OP. Check your travel insurance and get an unfit to fly note. they may not refund otherwise by the sounds of it.

I’d try to cancel. I expect the hospital will be sympathetic enough to give you a can’t fly note. Hopefully you could then rebook something for half term

In these circumstances, I'd cancel.

Depends on the break. DD2 broke her arm just before the holiday, had a cast and we got a plastic case for the pool. She could paddle and splash around but not swim as she couldn't immerse the cast in water. She was only 4, so an 8 year old would be quite sensible I think, if that's an option.

You can’t just cancel and claim back.

you need to be able to demonstrate that medically, she has been designated as unfit to travel. If they say she can go but take precautions, you’ll be out of luck.

She can paddle, play games around the side of the pool, be entertained at the side of the pool by her mum?!

She can’t paddle if the pool doesn’t have a very shallow pool end… which I don’t think it does. There is a toddler splash zone, but that won’t entertain her for a whole week. All the pools are at least 1metre. .

i’m in awe of any parent that can entertain an active(and understandably grumpy) 8 year old for a week by a pool… without actually swimming. Please enlighten me!

also wondering if this advice just applies to me, or in fact her dad could possibly join in the fun.

As others have said, I think you will only be able to cancel if the airline wouldn't let her fly and I believe more than enough time will have passed with the cast on (regarding swelling). To cancel now would likely be regarded by the insurance as "disinclination to travel" which isn't covered. Sorry OP.