AN Australian woman who was left paraplegic after a horrific 13ft balcony plunge will now receive court-ordered compensation from Airbnb.
Daniella Maia, 42, had jetted off for a dream family getaway at a beach house in Itacare, Brazil before disaster struck on January 16.
She had been chatting on the phone on the pool deck when she leant on a dodgy wooden guardrail that suddenly collapsed, resulting in the terrifying fall.
She recalled: “What I remember is that I only heard a noise, a very loud noise.
“I don’t remember falling, but I remember that noise and then I blacked out.”
Daniella was rushed to hospital with a shattered spine and eight fractured ribs.
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She lost movement in her legs and is wheelchair-bound, totally reliant on carers and undergoing constant medical treatment.
She said: “I have to depend on everyone, even to brush my teeth, to go to the bathroom.
“I can’t feel anything.”
Once a gardener in Australia, she can no longer work and has been drowning in sky-high treatment bills.
An insurer linked to the Airbnb booking paid BRL 470,000 (£66,000), but that hasn’t covered the medical costs.
Now a ruling issued on November 27 has ordered Airbnb to cough up her monthly medical costs, believed to be around BRL 40,000 (£5,648).
Judge Roberto Freitas Filho noted that the victim “suffered severe consequences from the accident, which left her paraplegic and unable to provide for her own livelihood, and now requires daily care to maintain her health.”
The judge also ruled that, until a final decision is reached, Airbnb will have to cover all Daniella’s expenses for treatment and medication.
Airbnb said in a statement that it would comply with the court’s decision once a final ruling is issued.
There is currently no date for when the judgment will be made final.
It follows the tragic death of a 56-year-old British holidaymaker, who plunged 20ft after a balcony railing broke at a Canary Islands hotel.
Another Brit tourist was left with serious injuries after the railing reportedly broke off.
Emergency services rushed to the scene after receiving reports of the fatal fall.
Last month, a 29-year-old man suffered fatal trauma to the brain after falling from a balcony at a popular UK holiday park.
Bartosz Urbaniak lost his footing at the Big Weekender event at Butlin’s, Skegness.
Witnesses claim the dad-of-one attempted to climb from one balcony to another before plunging to his death.
It’s understood he had been drinking at the time.
A trainee nurse who was also at the event rushed to give him CPR until the air ambulance arrived.
He was rushed to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham but despite medics’ best efforts, tragically died two days later.
