{"id":18106,"date":"2025-01-12T17:08:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T17:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=18106"},"modified":"2025-01-12T17:08:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T17:08:30","slug":"virginia-mom-who-lost-arm-in-shark-attack-learns-insurance-wont-cover-73k-prosthetic-hand-they-wont-help-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=18106","title":{"rendered":"Virginia mom who lost arm in shark attack learns insurance won\u2019t cover $73K prosthetic hand: \u2018They won\u2019t help me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The sharks at her insurance company won\u2019t give her a new arm.<\/p>\n

A Virginia mother-of-three who lost most of her left arm in a June 2024 shark attack recently learned her health insurer, Cigna Healthcare, refused to pay for a $73,000 myoelectric prosthetic hand she\u2019d been told in October she would receive Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt so deflated, I don\u2019t know how else to describe it,\u201d\u00a0Elisabeth Foley<\/a>, 51, told The Post, reflecting on Cigna\u2019s decision to deny her claim for the high-tech replacement arm; Foley\u2019s particular plan did not cover advanced prosthetics costs.<\/p>\n

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Elisabeth Foley was transported to the hospital by a medical helicopter.Courtesy of Elisabeth Foley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Elisabeth Foley\u2019s life changed in June 2024.Courtesy of Elisabeth Foley<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>\u201cThis was certainly one of the lowest points of this entire experience I\u2019ve had,\u201d the former Starbucks barista said. \u201cIt\u2019s insane and so frustrating, because I paid for health insurance my entire life, and had the healthiest life, so I barely used it. But I need their help now, and they won\u2019t help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last June, while on a beach vacation to Watersound, FL., Foley said she was chest-deep in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, having fun with her kids, when she spotted the shark.<\/p>\n

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Foley lost part of her left arm in the attack.Courtesy of Elisabeth Foley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt looked like a torpedo in the water,\u201d Foley recalled. \u201cIt was huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foley turned and started swimming for the shore when she was bit \u201cbetween the legs,\u201d sustaining pelvic damage.<\/p>\n

Fearing the shark would go after her kids next, Foley said she \u201cpunched at it with [her] left hand, because I had read they\u2019ll go away if you hit them in the nose.<\/p>\n

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Foley, who\u2019s had 25 surgeries, returned to Virginia on a medial flight.Courtesy of Elisabeth Foley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt grabbed me by the hand and pulled me underwater. I thought I was going to die. I called out to God, \u2018Please, let me live.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly, she resurfaced, and looked at her arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was gone,\u201d she said, adding she could see \u201cfour inches of white bone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Foley said she has an amazing support system in her kids and husband.Courtesy of Elisabeth Foley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her husband grabbed her and started pulling her to shore. Lucky for her, several medical professionals, also at the beach on vacation, rushed to her aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember seeing a group of people in bathing suits, working on me,\u201d she said. A tourniquet was placed on her amputated arm. They also treated her left buttock, which was shredded from the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they hadn\u2019t been there, I certainly would have bled out, because it took 20 minutes for EMS to get there,\u201d Foley said, noting they had to navigate a string of boardwalks just to get to the isolated beach.<\/p>\n

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Cigna said it may soon add advanced prosthetics to its plans.REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She\u2019s since endured 25 surgeries, and still has a handful to go.<\/p>\n

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