A fundraising campaign has been launched for a Canadian woman who discovered, after she was injured in an Arizona skydiving accident, that her insurance does not cover extreme sports.

Kenzie Markey’s father says he expects to have to pay between $25,000 and $45,000 to transport his daughter back to Canada by air ambulance.

Kenzie’s brother filed a claim with international travel insurance agency Allianz Global Assistance following the accident, but was told the company does not provide extreme sports coverage.

“She always thought she had insurance,” said Markey. “It was quite a surprise.”

Kenzie, a 32-year-old Nova Scotia native who now calls Squamish, B.C. home, has completed in excess of 100 jumps since she began skydiving more than three years ago.

She was skydiving over the desert just outside of Phoenix, Ariz., on April 6, and was on her last jump of the day, when something went wrong.

“She fell the rest of the way. Nobody saw it happen, so they don’t know how high she fell from,” Markey told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview from his home in Greenwood, N.S.

Her father says air force crews conducting drills in the desert were the first ones to spot Kenzie after she fell to the ground.

“They were able to get her to hospital extremely fast, I think that’s what made the difference,” he said.

But her injuries -- including a broken femur, pelvis, toe and ribs, along with facial and head injuries and a collapsed lung – are serious.

Her condition has finally improved following three surgeries, but finding the money to cover her medical bills and transportation to Canada has proven difficult for Markey.

“I’m totally tapped out money-wise,” he said.

And while Markey says Kenzie’s medical bill is expected to total approximately $500,000, he said British Columbia’s health care system will pay an amount equal to the cost for equivalent care in a Canadian hospital.

“They didn’t say how much,” he said. “I would think that’s a substantial amount.”

Wendy Hope, vice-president of external relations for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, said if something unexpected happens abroad, medical and emergency transportation costs aren’t necessarily covered by provincial health insurance plans.

And not all travel insurance companies cover extreme sports, she said. “It’s a competitive business, so you would need to find out who does that. Generally, you will probably be paying a higher premium,” she told CTVNews.ca.

And with all the different kinds of policies offering different levels of coverage, Hope says travellers should “always read your contract carefully and ask questions as to what it covers.”

But with the help of a fundraising campaign started last Sunday by Kenzie’s friend Kelley Richardson, Markey has set a goal of raising at least $50,000 by June 9.

“I am asking for any financial support in this time of need,” Richardson wrote on the fundraising page. “My goal is to take the stress off of her family so they can focus fully on Kenz.”

By Friday, nearly $8,000 had been raised.

“It’s been quite surprising,” said Markey. “I get quite overwhelmed -- I’m going to do it right now, probably cry -- it just takes my breath away, the response that there has been.”