A GWENT couple's trip to a Caribbean paradise has become a "horrendous" ordeal after a quad bike accident left one of them badly injured and effectively trapped, thousands of miles from home.

Heidi Pugsley broke her leg in two places and her wrist in three when she and partner Cerys Atterbury fell off a quad bike in Jamaica last week.

Having been told their holiday insurance would not cover medical bills for the injuries, the couple is now facing a bill of thousands of pounds, just to get home. Isolated and "on our own", the pair are in a race against time to return to Wales, where Ms Pugsley will require a leg operation.

"On Wednesday [doctors] told her she needs to get home urgently," Ms Atterbury told the Argus. "[They said] 'you need an operation - the longer you leave it, the more serious it will get.'"

Ms Pugsley remains bedbound and "in a lot of pain" and, having recently recovered from cancer, is at risk of developing blood clots, deepening the couple's concerns after an "eye-opening" experience at a local hospital, during which Ms Atterbury said she had to help a staff member put a plaster cast on her partner's broken leg.

Despite the couple taking out a policy that included "dangerous activities", this is currently in dispute, Ms Atterbury said.

That means the couple now has to cover costs of around £8,000 for Ms Pugsley's initial treatment at the Jamaican hospital, as well as new airline tickets to get them home.

"It's a massive devastation," Ms Atterbury said. "We're on our own, basically. We contacted the British embassy but they can't do anything."

Reluctantly, the couple has appealed for community help to get them home.

"Unfortunately we've had to set up a Gofundme page... to try and get her the care she needs," Ms Atterbury said, adding that they had been asked to pay $400 just to use a wheelchair at their hotel.

"We're basically stuck out here, trying to get the next flight we possibly can home."

She added: "We've literally been left to fend for ourselves."

You can view the 'Get Heidi home' fundraiser online gofundme.com/f/bxv4yf-get-heidi-home