Claire Nelson in her Palm Springs hospital bed. She can now stand briefly and is contemplating taking her first steps after spending three nights in a US desert with a broken pelvis
Kiwi Claire Nelson, who broke her pelvis while hiking in Joshua Tree National Park in the US, is battling the "distressing" and "stomach-knotting" realities of that country's health insurance system as she starts the long road to recovery.
She made the visit to the US while travelling around Canada on a two-year visa, and had been told the US travel insurance company could have her moved back to Canada any time it wanted, so her Canadian insurance could take over the costs.
"This is despite the fact I am just travelling in Canada on a working holiday visa, and that I have more people who can care for me here than I do in Canada.
"And the doctors here can't stop them. I don't know when it's going to happen, only that they want it to happen as soon as possible. And this is a distressing situation to live with day to day," Nelson said on Saturday morning (NZT).
At the same time, while lying in bed in the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Strings, California, she is thinking about taking her first steps by herself - with a frame - since her accident.
Claire Nelson spent three nights with a broken pelvis trapped in a US desert before being rescued.
Nelson has tweeted about her frustration at not being able to concentrate fully on her recovery, instead "giving 60 per cent of it to in-bed phonecalls and stomach-knotting worries about insurance and bills".
"I just want to get on with getting better and focusing on recovery," she said.
"It's just frustrating that's something I have to be even thinking about, and spending so much time thinking about," Nelson said.
A GoFundMe page - Help With Claire's US Medical Bills - had been set up to help. By Saturday morning around US$21,700 (NZ$31,075) had been raised, on the way to the US$30,000 target.
"At the moment we're not sure what the costs are, we're not sure how much will be covered, it's unlikely everything will be covered because there are a lot of costs involved."
Learning to walk again is exhausting, she said. "I might try walking, with a walking frame, to the door, but we'll see. It's a big one.
"I only had one operation, which is great. I'm very lucky, the hospital here has a top physician who deals with pelvic fractures.
"It just involved him putting some pins in and bringing all the broken pieces back together, so they can start to heal and fuse over time.
"I can stand up with the help of a walker. I can stand up and I can sit down again," she said. "I can only stand up on one foot. My left leg is unfortunately out of commission for probably three months.
"We've reached the point where I can stand up for a minute. That's kind of a big deal. I can sit up for five minutes, I think, at the most.
"For the time being it's just trying to gain strength and let things heal. A lot of it is pain management at this stage," Nelson said.
"They do say that because I'm young and fit I will be able to get back to full strength eventually. It's going to be a long process and it's going to be a slow and painful process."
The accident happened when, taking a break during a six-hour hike, she rested on a large boulder. When she stood up to get down from the rock she slipped and fell seven metres, breaking her pelvis.
Unable to move and with no signal on her phone, she spent four days and thee nights alone. Late afternoon on the fourth day, she heard a helicopter and her name being called. She was able to attract attention by waving a makeshift flag.
"The fall itself almost seemed like it happened in slow motion. I saw myself slipping and I knew I was going to hit before it happened," Nelson said.
"I remember the sound it made, and I remember how it felt, and I remember the absolute terror I felt when I realised suddenly my day wasn't going as planned."
When she first heard the helicopter that was looking for her, she thought she was hallucinating. "It was so hot, I was so tired, I was dehydrated," Nelson said.
"There are moments I get frustrated ... but then I just think, 'yeah, but I got rescued'. It does put everything into perspective."
It also helped having her mum, Maggie Hickton, who lives in Ōtaki, at the hospital with her. "The nursing staff here have been absolutely amazing, but there's no substitute for a mum."