A New Life in the Sun couple face financial ruin after leg injury Could lose everything

A New Life in the Sun: Ralf deals with an old leg injury

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The new series of A New Life in the Sun was back on Tuesday and saw three couples attempt to launch their businesses abroad. The Channel 4 series saw one couple, Franny and Fenton, give up their busy life in London to open a hotel in Andalusia. Husband and wife duo Kimmie and Matt also swapped Nottinghamshire for France, where they transformed their barns into holiday lets.

However, things didn’t go to plan for organic farmers, Ralf and Ninke after they almost lost their business completely.

The pair and their four children decided to swap city life for a 60-acre farm in Italy.

They also hired Elizabeth to help them run the business as smoothly as possible.

Ralf and Ninke wanted to open their farm as an attraction where visitors could see the animals.

The couple also made their own homemade produce to sell in the local shops.

The farmers hit their first hurdle when COVID-19 hit and they lost money because they were unable to open the farm.

“We couldn’t open when we were meant to open,” Ralf explained. “We missed the biggest day of our year, Easter.”

“It was a big financial hit,” Ninke chipped in as Ralf continued: “It was huge.”

He went on to add they still had to pay out to take care of the animals and they weren’t able to sell any of their produce.

Things took a turn for the worse when Ralf ended up injuring his leg which left him having to go to the hospital.

“They did an X-ray and I have a fractured kneecap and a fractured femur,” he recalled.

“I can’t really carry anything, I need to stay sitting down as much as possible and this is the busiest time of our year, so it’s really quite inconvenient.”

He continued: “I need to get better as we can’t survive with two people forever.”

The farmers were also hit with another hurdle after their solar panels stopped working.

This meant their meat and produce which needed to be kept refrigerated was at risk of going off.

Meanwhile, Ralf received some more bad news when he went back to the hospital.

After an MRI scan, the doctors told Ralf he needed an operation which he explained would put a further financial strain on their failing business.

“We could lose everything,” the farmer said before going on to add that his recovery time after the operation would be between four and six months.

“After the operation, which will probably be in November, he said it’s going to take four to six months to fully recover,” Ralf said.

“That’s June next year which means the entire period between now and June which is when we rebuild and get ready.”

A New Life in the Sun airs weekdays at 4pm on Channel 4.

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