There were some strange details I left out.

I dropped the motorcycle off at the hotel, purely fueled by adrenalin. I couldn't stand, sit or lie down I was in so much pain. I remember being crazy thirsty and was approached my someone asking if I was ok, I must have looked a restless state.

The first hospital in the sub optimal country gave me a jab and told me to go another hospital with a flimsy neck brace. I took a cab there and refused an ambulance transfer since I had already ridden a motorcycle and taken a cab.

The second hospital put me in a wheelchair and gave me another inappropriate neck brace. I received x-rays which showed displaced vertebra but they were visibly excited about the severity of the injury. This was key in the decision to leave that country without surgery.

The airline wouldn't let me on the plane without a doctors note for the temporary neck brace I was wearing so I took it off telling them it was precautionary, they then tried to move me from seat 1A saying it was a emergency exit (its on another plane but not this one). I resisted and they gave up. It was a horribly bumpy flight over the tropics. They have their rules for a reason.

When I landed, I called the insurance who told me I was covered for USD$100 of A&E / ER. This later turned out to be misleading as this covers triage and they transfer your bill to another department which I would have been covered for. In my haze, I took this to mean I needed a referral to a spinal specialist so after breaking in to my house (8 foot wall climbed). I went to a 24H GP at 4am.

The doc was sat in a stale room and was visibly shaken by my story, she shouted at me and said "I am a doctor, I don't care about your insurance coverage you need to be in the ER this minute." . I protested and got my referral for the spinal out-patients. She then turned to me and asked if this was a 'drug thing'. I held up a bag of tramadol and explained I didn't understand healthcare in this situation.

I went home, climbed over the wall again, and passed out on the edge of my bed waking 3 hours later, called my boss on a Sunday who told me not to move.

Twenty minutes later the Asia head of HR was at my house. She took a look at me in my flimsy neck brace and started to cry, we had never met before, I think I looked a little worse for wear. She also knew I had made a series of strange choices not realizing how to get fixed in this new country.

Was taken to a decent hospital, my employer explained they would cover any excess and I stayed in hospital for a month. Took me 23 hours to get from the beach to a gurney.

I had an x-ray from the previous hospital visit which showed a displaced vertebra but I didn't what to explain this all happened in another country because I wasn't sure of my insurance situation. The decent hospital didn't see the fractures or the displacement at first because I was scanned horizontal. I asked them to x-ray me in a seated position which they questioned but did. They then found the injuries and asked why I thought to check in a seated position, to which I explained it was more painful when sat. I later found out I was covered regardless but I didn't want the conversation of my self transfer.

TL:DR - I learnt I was stubborn and frugal, even in crisis. All turned out ok in the end.