Apply suncream thoroughly! I'm still paying for it (sort of)
I was in New Jersey over a year and a half ago visiting friends. On a very hungover Sunday, the plan of action was tubing on the Delaware river as it was a scorcher of a day.

This was to be a very pleasant day of drinking on the river and lying in my own piss - only I had just put on suncream a minute before jumping in the river. It washed off my legs instantly it seems, as after 8 hours of basking in the 35 degree sun, my legs were pretty toasted. The next day my feet had formed blisters, and swollen to twice their normal size. They looked like swollen slabs of bacon that had been left out in the sun for weeks. When the peeling eventually came, I could make tennis ball sized lumps with my own skin.....mmmm

So I ignore the burns, and spend a day walking around New York on my swollen feet - which only made things worse. The next day I fly to LA to meet some friends, who after much laughter at my misery, tell me I really should go to the hospital.

Hospital visit 1 - get treated briskly (as I was considered a priority one patient) and referred to a burns clinic in downtown LA. Cost - $300 + $50 on taxis. Diagnosed with first and second degree burns! Hurray! They also tell me that my feet were about a day away from getting infected.

So the next day in the hostel, before planning on going to the burn clinic in some dank LA hospital (it actually had prisoners in chains in the waiting area), I check the internet for directions, so I don't get ripped off by the taxi driver. Un-noticed to me, my wallet falls out of my pocket, and is stolen (within 2 minutes of me noticing it is missing) along with $150 and all my cards. Not good considering I was one week into a 15 week trip; but luckily I had some cash stashed in my bag to last me a little while longer.

Then comes the burn clinic, where I get visits by random nurses from different wards, with nothing to do with me but to laugh at me. "He are you the Irish guy with the sun burn?". One of the senior burn clinic nurses informs me that she had never seen anything like it in 15 years working there. They remove the blisters by applying soap and water to a towel and gritting away at my feet until the blisters were gone. That was a sure method to get rid of my semi-erect penis, the result of led to a bed by a slightly hot younger nurse. (even in drab-blue overalls, I still have a thing for nurses)

Anyway, after enduring the ordeal of scraping off my blisters, I'm given cream, bandages and dressing.....and another appointment (which I ignore) So apart from another $100 worth of taxis, I'm home free....Or so I thought.

14 months later, a bill of $1500 arrives to my house, which I choose to ignore. 2 weeks later, another arrives - so I send a letter asking them to include the details of my treatment so I can claim off my health insurance. They refuse to provide me with this info, as they are "not required to".....the shit-heads. So the letters keep arriving, and I keep ignoring until yesterday, when they send me a letter saying that they have forwarded the bill to debt collectors. I now live in fear of "Dog" the bounty hunter arriving at my door to hack off my legs.

Total cost: credit cards, debit cards, 6 weeks of ridiculous Western Union exchange rates while waiting for my cards to be sent to me, $600ish cash in hospital bills, taxis and being robbed; potentially $1500 more, along with my legs - and possibly being sued American style. I'll remember suncream next time...
(El_diablo_blanco, Thu 13 May 2010, 17:31, 2 replies)

I don't know how the law works over there
But can't you get the debt thrown out if they refuse to provide evidence that you actually owe it? Such as the treatment details?
( Ungersven would support SpankyHanky's patreon, Thu 13 May 2010, 17:45, closed)

I dunno, I'm just hoping they get bored of me and forget about it after a while.
(El_diablo_blanco, Thu 13 May 2010, 17:57, closed)

Neighbour went to Orlando with a friend, who fell ill. The "friend" called in the medics WITHOUT ringing the insurance company first, then emptied the minibar and flew home without telling our neighbour.

3 weeks later, neighbour gets massive bill from Swiss debt collector, as she was the person who booked the holiday. I wrote her a letter saying that the "friend" was an adult of sound mind, and they could fuck off.

Sorted.
(all my scars face forward possesses 2.5% of a hyperalloy combat chassis, Fri 14 May 2010, 21:25, closed)