After surviving a horrific boating accident in northern British Columbia, a Vancouver man and his wife are finally out of an Edmonton hospital, but feel they’re stranded in Alberta, with few options for getting home.

Two weeks ago, Alain Bourdeau was seriously injured in a boating accident near Fort St. John on the Peace River.

“The only thing I remember about my accident is, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’,” Bourdeau said.

The B.C. man was airlifted to the University of Alberta Hospital for treatment, his wife rushed to his side.

“A strong man who was taken down by a big accident, he wasn’t able to breathe on his own, machines were everywhere,” Linda Finlay, Bourdeau’s wife said.

In the accident, Bourdeau suffered a collapsed and punctured lung, and several broken ribs.

He said he’s grateful for the work doctors did to get him back on his feet, but now, the couple feels they’ve been abandoned.

“Two days before discharge, I’m told it’s going to cost you big to come home,” Bourdeau said. “You’re on your own, that must destroy a lot of people, and it must hurt a lot of people.”

Bourdeau said doctors told him he can’t fly home to the Vancouver area by plane, and the only safe ways to get him back home are by helicopter or car, but Finlay is concerned her husband won’t be up for the long drive back.

“Not a comfortable place for someone who just started walking yesterday,” Finlay said.

Now, the couple is living off of borrowed money.

Late Wednesday, Alberta Health Services issued a statement in response to the couple’s story, a spokesperson said:

“When a patient has been discharged, it is their responsibility to then make arrangements to return home. If a patient needs follow-up care in another hospital, whether it be in Alberta or another province, transport will be provided for that patient. The cost will be recouped from the patient's home province.”

For the couple, that policy doesn’t sit well.

“He was [airlifted] here, our expectation was he should be transferred to a hospital closer to home as soon as it was safe to do so,” Finlay said.

With files from Serena Mah