There will be no "profit" from this regardless of what settlement you might get from an insurance company. Your life will never be the same again! Not being able to work for at least a few months isn't going to be cheap. Once you can return to work you will not be as productive as you were before you hurt yourself. What ever money is raised should be used to help you through a tough time. Once you are better if you have excess funds "pay it forward" instead of worrying about it. People who help you out here are likely to be the same people who have gotten help through tough times in the past. They are "paying it forward" to you. Once the dust settles you will be able to do the same for others.

Our family has been through several "rough patches" over the years. Things will get better & in the end you will be a better person. Every "bad event" that has happened to us over the years has made us stronger and more aware of how quickly things can change.

NEVER take a good day for granted - enjoy every day like it might be your last! None of us know what might be in our future so while we are on this earth all we can do is our best to enjoy life & help as many people as possible along the way. It isn't people with the biggest bank accounts that have had a good life. It is the people who have shared what they have that are truly rich.

Take care of yourself & don't "worry" too much about anything. All will work out in the end. This is not a setback it is a growing experience that will make you an even better person in the end. Don't feel like you are asking for charity asking for a little help during a rough time. All you are asking for is a hand up NOT a hand out.

This is my greatest fear , as an upholsterer I am 1 wrist /shoulder injury away from being in the same position as you . If it happened over here you would have no medical bills . We pay a lot of taxes but at least if you get sick or injured you will be looked after . I'm not being anti USA , I love America but it is so sad the richest country in the world will spend trillions on Wars trying to sort out other countries problems but can't afford or won't look after their own people . As an upholsterer I don't earn much but i'll see what I can do , with the exchange rate it won't be much but I wish you all the best and I'll try to help as much as I can .

Damn. I've been in a seemingly ongoing Rochambeau of nut-kicking from one mild disaster to another for the past 18 months... but had been reminding myself that my family and I at least have our health, some contingencies, and a bare-enough margin for reasonable fun on the side, perhaps naively hoping things settle and improve for the future. So reading a story like yours really puts everything in perspective.

Oddly enough I also suffered a ladder collapse about 15 years ago. I was at the top of a 13ft fiberglass unit installing CAT5 in the ceiling of a conference room *at a hospital of all places* (I worked there). Careful since I was always scared of heights on my best days, my partner's sudden yell was still entering my ears as I crashed to the floor. I came to surrounded by the crash team I'd been passing friends with for years. The ladder's bottom leg had simply... suddenly bent without warning. I was in my 20's and my right shoulder bore the brunt of impact; nothing even broken just severely strained and bruised, which might have been worse because even though the hospital checked and monitored me for a couple weeks and prescribed a PT regimen, there wasn't really anything truly acute to see or treat, even in xray, yet that arm has never been quite the same even though I can do generally all I need.

Hopefully with everything being so "obvious" in your case you'll get proper care. But it will be a long road and different life for sure.

I saw that SkySkipper cab at Louisville Expo a year or two ago - it was beautiful. You do good work and are talented so you should have some soft skills ad abilities you can parlay and develop to other means, if it comes to that?

Oops lest I ramble: I read this without my wallet, etc nearby but will chip in later on. I hope your recovery is smooth and straightforward. If you make it up this way, look me up for a visit to get your pinball fix. Best wishes to you meanwhile, and stay strong!

It seems to me that any public or private building, church or otherwise, would need to have an insurance policy in place to protect the owners in case of any type of accident, from slip and fall, to workers getting injured on the job. All of your bills and associated expenses should be paid out by the insurance company, at least to their limit of liability. If the building has a mortgage on it, I'm pretty sure the lender would absolutely require various insurance policies in place to protect their equity. You need to look into this ASAP!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, sometimes life throws a floor at you.

I had heavy deductible out of pocket expenses when wife had to have surgery. I called the Hospital and set up a monthly payment plan for as low as $50 a month they allowed me to pay until it was paid in full which was over $3500. Just an option. Hope you heal up quick and abled to get back to work.

Concerning some of the medical back-and-forth posts -
I broke my right leg in northern Michigan in my 20s, and the hospital just put a splint on it and sent me home (300 mile drive). I spread my leg onto the bench seat of my 72 Galaxie and off I went. I had to crawl backwards from the car into the house, took me 20 minutes. No painkillers, nothing. It didn't get set in a cast for another 4 days. My primary care doctor was LIVID, called the hospital up north and reamed them out. They said that they didn't expect that I would go back up there for follow up, so didn't want the liability.

On another note, like the OP, I also broke both arms at the same time in a fall (along with my pelvis). It sucks, and the simplest things become a challenge, but you will get through it.

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How are you typing? LOL J/K. Hope you are healing well and on the road to recovery. Ladder falls are never fun. It could have been much much worse.

He has lots of free time right now so holding a pencil with your teeth and hitting one key at a time is likely his method.

I would say someone in the family is likely doing the typing right now. I kind of doubt those big fingers he was wearing right now are much good for anything. Trying to go to the bathroom must be a lot of fun!

Lol, you will get healthcare, and then be taxed to death and not be able to afford anything else.

You want healthcare, go pay for it like everyone else.

I am very sorry you had to go through this, but you was on church property serving and their insurance should cover this. I would not feel bad at all letting their insurance get you through this period of time without work and to pay medical bills.

healthcare is NOT a right. If you want to get a job and work and pay for your coverage then great. College is not a right either by the way. Those other country's have insane tax rates as well. I will just keep working and paying for mine.

Amen. Most of the folks that support free everything from the "government" don't pay much or nothing in taxes.

Dudes, just report the blatant political post to the mods and move on. If it gets like 20 reports that post will disappear in an hour. Instead we now get to hear everyone else's views on Bernie as well (plus presidential age limits, apparently).

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Dont act like you arent voting on the comments yourself lol

Funny how that works. People who want free stuff dont contribute as much.. Common trend.

Guy needs cash for med bills and you dipshits are going off with the right wing memes!

Have you no decency? Outrage.

Pinside, lol

Get well soon

Thats kind of hypocritical considering your earlier post.. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/i-had-a-bad-accident-and-need-a-little-help-i-hate-to-ask#post-5427832

On your blatantly political comments? Sure I voted you down. And the Bernie guy as well. You are both way out of line.

Hey, your still involved lol. Only down-voting what you dont agree with...

Come to the UK 'free health care' but you will lose 45% of your earnings to the tax man!

Anyone who starts a post with the word "Dudes" should probably not be voting.

This post makes me want to check my Short Term Disability insurance and update it. I don't have Aflac but may want to supplement with it.

Got my first wack job pm in 7 years on this site.

Bump.

Dude, just stop.

Get well soon.

Shh.... we already pay 33% give or take at federal level without health care... while local and sales taxes add on... then insurance easily goes over 10% of the remainder, but you know USA or whatever so that's better!

What people don't realize here in the US is about 60% of your income goes to taxes already. You pay federal tax, state tax, local tax, sales tax (in most states), tax on your fuel (called road tax added to the price of fuel for your vehicles), tax on your cell phone bill & electric bill, etc. And if you are self employed you also get to pay your own SS tax typically half paid by your employer. The last thing we need is higher taxes and more government control over our lives!

This is not a political comment - this is the facts of life in our great country. Regardless of who you want to see win the up coming election I really don't think many people think more taxes is the answer.

Maybe someone that's on the verge of losing their house or something because they've been buried by crippling medical bills can chime in......

The church should pay for it all. It seems very negligent to have no professionals climbing ladders to install electrical wiring.

Please understand that likely the best way you can help yourself is to make sure you discuss this with a good attorney to make sure you maximize the benefits of the Church's insurance. Every non-profit I have volunteered for (or sat on the board for) has had volunteer insurance to cover EXACTLY your situation. You should immediately invest all your time (not spent at the doctor) working with an attorney to make sure you protect yourself and your family by utilizing the insurance available to you through the church.

Before anyone starts ragging on lawyers or claiming "I hate to sue" etc understand this is EXACTLY what insurance was intended for - to pay for accidents. Please make sure you work your way down this path with a lawyer. Your family and your financial future are critical and no one should do this alone.

I wish you a speedy recovery.

Whats better, crippling medical bills or crippling taxes?

Man, you all must go to Mega Churches that drip in cash.....some of us actually belong to small community volunteer groups that can barely keep the lights on, let alone buy insurance. People are going less, giving less, and lots of churches are failing. Many don't even have a minister, and the congregation takes turns delivering sermons.

I have no idea what the financial shape of his church is, but he did say it was a volunteer group. Even if there is insurance, there is no guarantee they will pick up anything...they are very adapt at finding reasons not to pay. My point is we should not all assume the church is rich, or that the church has insurance, or that they would cover him, or anything else for that matter. A man asked for some help....if you want to help, then please do so....if you don't, then move on. He doesn't need free legal advice, and he already has a doctor. There is NOTHING he posted that is enough to base any of the accusations and assumptions on I have seen in this thread. even those of you who proclaim to be in the medical field......you may very well be doctors, but we are taking your word for that just like we are taking his that he got hurt. You can buy a certificate and post it, and you can read terms from a medical dictionary. You cannot diagnose someone from a JPEG image, so quit trying. Just when I thought I was gaining a little faith back in humanity, you see things like this. If he had posted a picture of a puppy with two broken legs, the cash would be flowing like a faucet. Next time, maybe you should tie your dogs leash to the ladder, so you have a worthwhile cause to land on.

Agreed that that it's a stretch to assume that the church itself could pay much or anything toward his medical bills. It's less of a stretch to think the church might have basic liability insurance that could help out. Of course you generally have to work the insurance company over if you want to get coverage (sadly that's where a lawyer might end up being helpful). But it's a good idea for OP to find out if there's any insurance that could help cover the costs without bankrupting the church.

This is hilarious. You think you guys pay for your own healthcare? Better check the benefits breakdown from the company you work for. Most likely they're paying about 80% of the cost and you're paying 20%. If you actually had to pay the whole thing yourself, you'd probably be re-evaluting some of these so-called "radical" plans.

That was my point, though you ran with it into further detail. All those taxes we pay here in the USA, piled and piled and piled on, and somehow we don't have healthcare accounted for in that. Seriously?

But Americans say "Well maybe healthcare in <other country> is 'free' BUBUBU LOOKIT THUH TAXES THEY PAY, no thanks!"

Yep. Uh-huh. Meanwhile golly good ol' us pays our additional "private healthcare tax" - conveniently called something different like "copay", "premium", "deductible", whatever (hey and guess what, most plans have all of those!) - to someone else's pocket. And sure, your employer might be on the line for its share of that too *if you're lucky*, on top of all the other taxes and fees employers pay.

All of that, and still you gotta hope for the best in time of need, nevermind all the crap and sacrifices you'll have to put up with meanwhile.

Yes indeed the USA way is so much better, efficient, and cost effective, clearly. I'd argue the first healthcare benefit we Americans need is a procedure to pull our own heads out of our asses.

Not everyone will have "crippling medical" bills but everyone will have crippling taxes with "free healthcare"

No thanks.

My dad has lived in Canada most of his life and I can assure you, he's not "crippled" by the taxes he pays. He's much more grateful for the healthcare he's afforded by having to pay those taxes.