THE family of a teenage holiday accident victim were yesterday saved from paying huge hospital bills by an insurance company's last-minute change of heart.

Ashleigh Stephens, 13, from Brinsley Court, Coundon, County Durham, is undergoing extensive surgery in Athens, Greece, after she was thrown from the rear of a moped through a shop window on the Greek island of Kos last Thursday.

Her parents, Darren, 37, and Lorraine, 35, faced having to pay thousands of pounds in medical and transport costs because the accident was outside the terms of a travel insurance policy taken out with Post Office Limited and underwritten by Fortis Insurance Limited.

Yesterday, following the intervention of their MP, Derek Foster, and the Foreign Office, the company agreed to meet Ashleigh's expenses.

The Northern Echo contacted Mr Foster after hearing of the family's plight, and the efforts of caring Coundon residents to raise money to help them.

Ashleigh is undergoing a series of operations on her badly injured face and leg at the private Athens Medical Centre, to which she was flown from Kos.

Her mother cannot leave her bedside, while her husband, who was not on the holiday, waits anxiously by the telephone at home with three of their other four children.

Ashleigh's older sister Sian, 15, stayed behind on Kos while Callum, ten and Tyrhys, two, flew home with their grandmother a few hours after the accident took place.

Simone, 17, missed the holiday because her passport did not arrive in time.

Mr Stephens, who is disabled and does not work, said last night: "This is wonderful news. I cannot believe how kind everyone has been.

"The whole thing has been a nightmare. This was the first time they had been abroad and they were only a few hours away from coming home.

"We thought we had insurance, but Lorraine only found out we were not covered for a moped accident when the doctors in Kos threw the documents back at her.

"We were told we would have to pay for everything, even oxygen, blood and injections, and food. I borrowed money from my family but the bills could have run into thousands.

"Ashleigh just wants to come home."

A fundraising auction, karaoke, buffet and disco, which was planned to raise money for Ashleigh's treatment, is going ahead in the Foresters Arms, Coundon, on Friday, from 7pm