It has been amazing to get back home and we are so fortunate to have our family of four all under the same roof again on a regular basis. Cory is in his second week of rest from rehab right now and we pretty much spent the first week at the Bunbury BMX Club watching the amazing event that was the 2018 Australian BMX Championships!
It was a pretty tough time to be around the track knowing the effort that not only Cory had put into his BMX training, but also the effort and time that both Shona and I have also invested into him and while we had few solemn moments we certainly felt the love from a ton of his fellow BMX racers and their families. Starting at the Battle@Bunno and right through to the 20” Championships Cory had so many people coming to tell him how they have been following his progress and reading this blog. Thanks guys, you know who you are and we are extremely grateful, the small gestures, the loving comments and things as simple as asking to have your photo with Cory all really make us feel like we are still part of the BMX community.
There were a lot of riders that we were barracking pretty hard for, but one that stands out is young Fliss, Cory’s girlfriend who has been by his side every step of the way. After getting on her cruiser for the first race (yes, she had never raced this bike at all) she rode like a trojan and took away 2A! Following on with her 20″ class on Saturday, Fliss had an awesome run into the final where after a mistake by the leading rider, she found herself in first place into the final turn, we along with everyone we were sitting with lost our voices we screamed so hard for her, where she unfortunately made a mistake of her own coming into that final turn and finished with a 4th place. 4A!! what a cracking effort Fliss, well done 🙂
Matthew Blake, your run into the champs was definitely not a great one, we know how hard it was for you witnessing Cory’s accident, dealing with all of that, then losing a close mentor and struggling along with a major injury so close to the Nats, again mate, a less than ideal run into the Nats. You rode like a true champ all day and were so unfortunate in your final, we are so proud of you mate and we look forward to seeing you continue to be a champ!
Cory’s rehab is coming along very well and although he is on a “break” for 2 weeks we are still trying to get out and do as much walking as possible and a few pool sessions here and there. After Easter we will be headed back to PMH for 3 days a week with a 4th day of rehab here in Bunbury with school to recommence on Fridays and taking the weekends to rest up again. Going forward the plan will be to do more and more of his rehab here in Bunbury. This has been something that we have been extremely reluctant to transition to as we (as you would expect) want to ensure that Cory can receive the best rehab therapy possible. Our minds were set at ease somewhat after some discussions with a local provider, although it has brought us along to discover the DOLLAR value!
On discharge from PMH Cory was given a supply of his medications that would last for 3 months, this equated to $1346.10 or over $5,000/year.
Even know we are now going into a reduced number of sessions per week, the cost of his rehab sessions makes the medications look like a drop in the ocean. We are looking at over $65,000 in the coming 12 months plus medications, plus what ever else comes along, not including incidentals such as travel, time off work etc etc. At this point in time we are not sure how we are going to pay for it and there seems to be a lot of red tape and restrictions around funding.
But not to worry, as a licensed BMX member, complying with all BMX rules and regs, training at the very Bunbury BMX track that the 2018 National Champs were at, we will be covered by the insurance that we pay for as part of our BMXA licensing. Phewwwww
So you have seen the dollars above (in excess of $70,000), now here is the scent….. and this bloody stinks to high heavens!!
BMXA’s insurance provider has advised us that they will (and they have already) cover the cost of the ambulance that took Cory to the Hospital ($949). And will for a period of up to 12 months post accident, reimburse 80% of all medical costs up to a grand sum of $1500….
Yep, that is right…
One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars Only….
Are you freaking kidding me? What the actual F@#K…. Is that?
I’ll tell you what it isn’t, it isn’t what we, you or anyone else of sound mind would expect of insurance coverage in a sport such as ours and it is completely unacceptable. At a minimum, 100% of direct rehab costs should be covered.
Fortunately after some effort we have been able to get in contact with BMX Australia and we are hopeful that as the governing body of our sport, they are going to go into bat for us with the insurance agency to ensure that Cory’s rehab is not put into jeopardy because of either a policy that is lacking or somebodies inability to do their job.
Not only is this of utmost importance to us right here, right now, but we want to ensure that the next family that has to endure this, is not left out to dry without the right funding to access services essential to rehabilitate them to the best condition they can reach.
As I wrote above, the BMX community has been amazing and to continually have complete strangers reach out to express their best wishes, compassion and their awe for Cory and his positive, determined and committed attitude towards his recovery has been humbling and something that absolutely keeps us on top of the earth.
We would love to hear your thoughts on what you would expect in regards to what support you would expect to receive from the BMXA Organisation and what you think of the compensation that has been offered to us.
Would you expect to cop this on the chin, or would you expect the insurance you are paying for to encompass this?
Please share this and get a meaningful discussion going, what if this was you or your child?
#positivedeterminedcommitted
#corycrombiecan
#muchlove
The Crombies
So , as Bmx Australia’s Duty of Care , should they inform every New member of this insurance fault before these new members sign up??
Or even better, put someone straight on to the case to make sure that the insurance is adequate!
Neil and Shona, I am shocked by the facts presented in your post about the lack of insurance. It is hard to keep up with what is covered as BMXA change their insurers a lot, 3 times in the last 3 years!
I was under the impression from previous reading of the fine print that 85% OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES were covered. I was not aware until last week that there was a cap of:
$1500 for training injuries
$2500 for racing
INCOME Was dropped a couple of years ago to $500 per week and now it is $250 per week for 39 weeks . Seriously , what adult can live on that when not working !
I know there are PAYOUTS according to severity of injury. How long do you have to wait for that to occur? And again, they vary dramatically :
$50,000 for training
$100, 000 for racing for paraplegia
Why the difference!??
Riders have always been told by clubs , you must have a licence so you are insured. I know it is a sport prone to injuries but seriously , who at BMXA is negotialting these terms and signing off on the coverage.
BMXA NEED To email all members on an annual basis with their licence renewals the details of what insurance covers.
I would advise RIDERS to :
— Take out Ambulance cover ( approx $100 per year , an ambulance trip can be $850 ! )
— Get income protection if you are an adult that works
— Take out Private cover if you can afford it
— Definitely attend a Public Hospital if injures as Medicare covers the cost
Crombie’s , I am on your side and really not happy about the lack of INSURANCE coverage.
I will try to raise awareness and have re posted your post to Southside BMX Club and my page BMX racing gear for sale Perth . It has got people talking and raised awareness .
I will be contacting BMXA to voice my concerns about the insurance. As a President , I feel I need to keep our members informed and aware.
Please let me know what I can do for you , so you can keep fighting the fight. You are a strong and amazing family and Cory is a very determined person . I am in awe of his progress and his positive attitude
Hey Sandra,
Thanks for the comments and also your ongoing amazing support 🙂
Yes absolutely why the gap?? also a “volunteer” who suffers paraplegia receives a payout of $250K go figure…
So during a practice session a RIDER runs into a volunteer who is watering the track and they both suffer paraplegia, the rider (if insurance actually coughs up unlike they have so far for Cory…) receives a $50K payout while the Volunteer receives $250K??? Sorry, but that is CRAP!! $250K should be the sum for any and all Para events! $50K is not even one year of rehab.
I really believe that every single member needs to understand what financial assistance they will receive and what they will actually require. As far as we can see at present, they are denying Cory the $50K that he is entitled to as he is classed as paraplegic, we will never give up trying to get as much movement and sensation back to him to play to the insurance sum, nor should we need to! But where is $50K going to go??
The Board of BMXA needs to;
1. Amend the insurance to something that actually covers us you and everyone that pays their fees. We as members are BMXA, not the board, not any position, but us, the members.
2. Redefine someones role in BMXA to be the single point liaison for members that suffer any form of hardship, someone needs to follow up and make sure that members are assisted through the insurance process and there should be someone there to make sure that what we as an organisation are paying for is what we are getting!
Thanks as always Sandra, I feel like this is going to be a long and hard road ahead and we feel like there will be many people who choose to either stick their heads in the sand like this is a non-issue or turn their backs on us for causing a stir, but all I can say to those people is “what would you do if it was your child”? it very well could be next time and we want to make sure that the next family is not put through the same crap!
#muchlove
Last time I came off I found the BMXA insurance to be a total waste of time . I ended up claiming through my private health . It worked out way cheaper than claiming through BMXA insurance . Still about 3k down in wages but luckier than a lot of others .
Still disappoints me that we can raise and throw money at wealthy injured overseas Australia athletes but cant look after the less fortunate riders in Australia.
Hey John, I am only just realising this now myself!
I actually donated $1000 to a certain “wealthy injured overseas Australia athlete” because at the time I thought hey what if that was Cory or another young kids we know.
We also contacted Road 2 Recovery to seek some support and assistance, but guess what…. their first question was “is he a pro?”
No assistance available there either.
Sorry you had to find this out the hard way John and thanks for highlighting it here as this is the way forward to make sure the insurance provided is what we believe it to be when we sign up and let’s kill this false pretence of being insured when the insurance we have, we may as well not!
It’s a shame it took an incident such as Cory’s to find out how worthless the insurance is. I really hope for your families sake (and that of any other BMXer who may find themselves in a similar situation) that this is changed so that our riders are adequately covered.
It seems almost negligent by the governing bodies due to the nature of our sport that the insurance is almost useless.
Good luck with getting what is rightly deserved in Regards to rehabilitation costs guys. The BMX community provided tenfold more than the insurance policy. I’m sure the BMX family can help raise more to help moving forward too.
Much love
Leon Daymon
#corycrombiecan
Thanks Leon, I know that there will still be people out there that honestly (as we did) believe that they are “insured” adequately with the BMXA Policy. We aim to make sure that they know what they are in for in the unfortunate case that they are injured!
If only the BMX Organisation was run by the BMX Community…. then all MEMBERS would be in good stead!
WHAT!!! I cant believe this. Our family, (as many) have been following cory very closely, i hope with BMX Australia by ure side they will have a change of heart because this is just NOT on. Whats the point of paying insurance every year if this is all they will cover in a accident!!! And as far as private health cover goes (as above comment) we are paying for a service that we are not recieving!!! So wrong! Insurance is just a scam and waste of our $$$???
Thanks for making us all aware.
Thanks Nicole, unfortunately we are finding all this out the hard way, but where ever we end up, we hope it is not in vane! While we fight for what is right, we will be shining a light on a giant gap in what appears to be more than just BMX!
So basically if you don’t have Private Health cover or your own individual Accidental Injury Cover you’re stuffed? I definitely thought the insurance would have been up closer to $100,000+ not $1500… literally what is that meant to help with? Basically 1 short ambulance trip and that’s it??
For sure Jordyn and even when getting your own insurance you need to double check that it actually covers the activities you partake in and all the “extras” such as physio etc or you will simply be wasting your money!
We really need an investigation by the ACCC into the private health insurance scam!
So, what is the point of paying for insurance with our membership????
I am not sure that there is any point Liz, after a good conversation with BMXA at the track last week, we are hopeful that they will at least go in to bat for us, but what that outcome is, who knows??
I believe your right in fighting for more, after all thats why we have the insurance isnt it?
I had the same problem last year, my son fell at bunbury super series and was taken to hospital via ambulance, I was informed by bmxau that we could not claim though bmx insurance as we had private coverage.
Absolutely Kristin! every single parent and rider out there are under false pretences that they are “insured” what does that actually mean?
Very little from what we can see and we are hopeful that the organisation that tells us we cannot ride without the insurance that they administer, assists us to make sure that we and everyone else is covered adequately!
Thanks for getting the discussion started here 🙂
We hope your son is ok and back enjoying our wonderful sport 🙂