Bride Paralyzed Because Of Bachelorette Party Prank
This is one of the most heart breaking things I have read in awhile. Rachelle Friedman was on ABC and talked about how she was going to get married and how life was perfect and then during her Bachelorette party, her best friend and bridesmaid pushed Rachelle into the shallow end of the pool. Rachelle struck the bottom and was instantly paralyzed from the chest down.
Despite the fact that her soon to be groom has never left her side, the couple could not get married because Rachelle would lose her health insurance., so for now they remain engaged.
"I was always kind of scared something was going to mess up my perfect world," she said. "It was literally perfect but it completely changed and that can happen to anyone. But I've learned that even if things do change you can still make your world perfect," she said. "It's just extremely different, we do everything differently now."
OMG, I am floored, SMDH, it just goes to show you, be grateful for every thing you have every second of your life because you just never know, Dammmmnnnnn
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing attitude to have after something so horrible! I cannot imagine what her and her fiance are going through. And what about he guilt you have being the friends to pulled the prank?
ReplyDeleteThat is some serious life-long guilt that her 2 friends are going to suffer through. Not that I don't feel bad for her, I do, I just imagine it's easier to forgive when you're the one stuck in the chair. I don't think they'll ever forgive themsevles. I wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteHey Hollywood a-holes!!!!!! Yes you people...the ones who cheat and lie and divorce after a few months and do it all for publicity.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS LOVE!!!! Take some notes!
i can't even fathom this...serious kudos to her for the amazing attitude...time to breathe an extra prayer of thanks for life. wow. =O
ReplyDeleteWow. She found a keeper.
ReplyDeleteWho pushes someone into 2 feet of water?
ReplyDeleteWow. What an amazing attitude.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the friends feel. How do you ever forgive yourself for doing that to a friend, even if it was just an accident and supposed to be a joke?
What I want to know is what kind of health care do you lose by getting married? I'm so glad to be Canadian. It's ridiculous she can't marry now because of this!
ReplyDeleteits kind of sad that they can't get married b/c of the fact she would lose her insurance.
ReplyDeletesad.
Wow. Good thing the healthcare system is so great in this country and doesn't need any reform, huh? *eyeroll* This is exactly why I have so much trouble understanding why people are against health care reform.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, what a heartbreaking story all around. She and her fiance are inspiring.
She must be on her parents insurance or something. I don't understand how getting married would mean she loses her insurance. Very sad story _ I can't see the apparent video attached to the story - but just her quote - heartbreaking stuff...
ReplyDelete@shiny_special_one
ReplyDeleteShort answer? Because people have too much to lose if health care becomes "socialized". By lose I mean money. Like Trillions.
Oh man, what a great girl, what a great guy...
ReplyDeletemaybe his insurance would consider this a pre existing condition...and this is why Obama's health care matters...as watered down as it now is...it's so important.
No one will insure a paralized person. No one will take her on. It's sad but true. She has to stick with the insurance that she has.
ReplyDeleteBTW-socialized medicine means that the government will decide if and when you need a procedure done and if and when you qualify for a life saving surgery, medication, etc... It would also make it illegal for a doctor to allow you to pay out of pocket for your healthcare. For example, you have saved all of your life and at 70 years old you find out you need a new kidney. Government says you're too old and you don't qualify for the procedure. You can't pay out of pocket. Then you die. Period. End of story.
Socialized medicine is only good for those with no money and is being paid for by those with money. Sound familiar??? Read the history of the Soviet Union.
Ever since I was a little kid, I've HATED pranks and practical jokes. I never saw anything funny about humiliating or hurting someone.
ReplyDeleteI got made fun of for being a worry-wart, goody-goody, etc. I hope they feel awful. They should.
I hope I find a love that strong one day.
"Socialized medicine is only good for those with no money and is being paid for by those with money."
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of the point, isn't it?
This couple is in my prayers because they are going to need strength to go along with their love and commitment.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to fight with everyone...but eventually no employer will be able to afford to supply insurance ...what would be so awful if we paid in the same as we do for Social Security...if the government wasn't so wasteful this would not be a problem...
ReplyDeleteI want the same insurance as the Senators & Congress ...since I pay for their very excellent coverage I think I'm entitled to something comparable...
I get sooo angry about this..
What a sad story, one minute she was partying, getting ready to get married and the next she's in a wheelchair. How awful must her friends feel like?
ReplyDeleteNice going, bridesmaids. How stupid are you to think that a)pushing someone into a pool like that is "fun", and 2)check to see WHERE they were? What if she got tangled in her clothes? Can the girl even swim?
ReplyDeletePushing the guest of honor at a party into a pool is just plain mean and tacky. Stupid a$$holes.
Um, Ice Angel - Canada has socialized health care and that's certainly not the case here. Everyone is covered under our system, and if you want additional care that your doctor deems not necessary, you can feel free to go ahead and pay for it yourself.
ReplyDelete@MISCH - but why can't you keep your own insurance after you marry? I honestly don't understand.
Like MISCH, I don't want to fight with anyone--or even debate, because I know this just isn't the place for it. I appreciate all the points of view that have been expressed here and agree with a lot of what's been said. I don't presume to have answers, I'm just sad that as a "civilized society" we can't come up with something that works fairly for everyone.
ReplyDeleteSecondarily, another thing that keeps striking me about this story is how awful it must be for the friends. Not that the bride doesn't have it the worst--she does, and I really admire her for handling it as well as she seems to be. I feel bad for the friends because, like Sue Ellen Miskey said, I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive myself for that. Such a stupid mistake, most likely done completely without thinking. A split-second lack of judgement that led to a lifetime of heartbreaking consequences. Horrible.
I don't know...I think if she hadn't been hurt she could have gone on her new husbands insurance...someone mentioned she might be on her parents plan...that sounds about right...if she was no longer their dependent the insurance would end...
ReplyDeleteWas she still a student ?
Ah, the Culture of Fear marches on. What do you think our next hot button issue will be?
ReplyDeleteYour current health insurancecan decide whether or not you get life saving proceedures. Seriously, I am SO tired of people being so greedy. Look where it has gotten us.
ReplyDeleteI think she MIGHT have some sort of state health care. She might loose her insurance because his income would be 'too much' to qualify. Rediculous.
You people that don't think we need reform... I hope that you NEVER have to experience something like this.
I was born with jaundice (for like half a day) the insurance company deemed me a 'sick baby' and was trying to refuse to pay for my birth/medical care. Yay to my mother for fighting it and to the state representatives that faught to make it against the law to do so!
Adult Stem Cell Transplants are restoring 70% of feeling to people who have been paralyzed for as long as 17 years.
ReplyDeleteAdult Stem Cell Transplants are restoring 70% of feeling to people who have been paralyzed for as long as 17 years.
ReplyDelete@kvr and MISCH - thanks, that makes sense. I did read something about the income of spouses affecting care in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteIce Angel please do not reproduce. There are already enough ignorant people in the world. You are so far off, you don't have a clue.
ReplyDeleteI have always felt Health care should be non-prophet as if that will happen...and that's what its all about..these CEO's get mega million dollar bonus's on the backs of the sick...
ReplyDeleteYes they should earn a nice salary but denying the sick care is nothing to be proud of.
Our system is broken...these people are shameless ...
@Iceangel Agree with you. Do you people realize that essentially what Obama's healthcare policy is doing is making you buy medical insurance? If you don't have it, then 2% of your income will go for this. The government CANNOT make you buy anything. Look at all the problems Europe is having with its socialization of medicine. The government decides who gets treatment, for how long, and how much to allow for it. I'm sorry, but this man just feels that he can change the Constitution.
ReplyDelete@Jessica. No, Ice angel is very well informed. You on the other hand, I will recommend get sterilized.
Her positive attitude is so amazing. I get so frustrated with people that have NO IDEA how fortunate they are and yet still find the most inane garbage to bitch about. #1 Pet Peeve.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know I'm inviting a shit storm here, but I'm only saying this because I'm genuinely curious...am I the only person that's seen Sicko? Yes, I like Michael Moore and yes, I strongly believe in health care reform. Ok--have at me.
@redsiren & @Ice Angel well said!
ReplyDeleteThis is one sad story. :(
Oh seriously eff off Red Siren. All these people bitching about socialized health care - what the fuck do you think Medicare, medicaid, and military insurance is? No one tells them you can't have something if you want to pay for it yourself - you're a moron that's drank too much damn kool-aid.
ReplyDeleteGo make a tin foil hat to block out Obama waves, or just do your usual, run around the internet posting ignorant messages you know nothing about.
I worked in insurance for 13 yrs and my best friend still works in the industry for over 20. I now work in healthcare. Now this chick? She prolly had a policy that covered her and if she married her husband to jump on his plan, they wouldn't accept her due to pre-existing condition. That's just common sense. They aren't going to pick up a huge claim like that cause she wants to get married and jump companies. She is going to need long term medical care and it's going to be considered a catastrophic loss. She would be insane to leave that company. Better not be late with those premium payments girlfriend!!
ReplyDeleteI hate to break it to all these people who are afraid of the big bad government making all these decisions about whether they will live or die but that's what your insurance company has been doing for years. Now all those people would just go and work for the government. Probably the same people who hate Michael Moore but he is spot on with the system with "Sicko". That is how our heathcare system works. Maybe if you took some of the insane profit out of it, you might get back to people who actually want to heal patients again and not a bunch of assholes who are just in it for the cash.
BlahFrickinBlah - anyone who has worked in the insurance industry knows this. It's just a shame you can't tell idiots like Red Siren and Ice Angel this though, it's too complicated for them to understand. They think some insurance agent should be able to dictate whether you live or die, while vacationing in his summer house you paid for. No money for insurance premiums - you die, who cares. Pre-existing condition? Too bad, you die, they're not taking the risk. But make insurance available to everyone? That's absurd! Then they run around throwing in their usual scare tactics like Ice Angel did - "It would also make it illegal for a doctor to allow you to pay out of pocket for your healthcare" and their other usual rhetoric... It's sad an adult can be so brain dead.
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope Red Siren, Ice Angel, and the newest kool-aid drinker, Miss X - grow up some day. They'll be glad they have insurance coverage when it's determined they had undiscovered early-onset Alzheimers at such a young age.
Again--Word, MISCH! The fact that the US healthcare industry is driven purely by profit doesn't feel right to me. It's unfortunate that that's what our society is based on. Not that I'm against capitalism. Hey, nothing wrong with making a profit. Making a profit at the detriment of others is shameful, though. Especially when it involves something like public health. Not what I'd expect from an "evolved" society.
ReplyDeleteI said I didn't want to fight with anyone and I don't, but I would like to know whether the people who are concerned about the evils of socialism really think that things are better in a solely corporate-run society. This is not directed at anyone in particular, btw, and is being asked with absolute sincerity. How is a situation where private companies dictate whether someone gets livesaving care any better than a situation where the gov't is in charge? The examples I hear presuppose that there's an evil government limiting the rights of its citizens, and while I think that's something to always be on guard about, I just can't see old-school, USSR-style "socialism" happening in this country. China and the old USSR notwithstanding, I just can't see the US gov't barring people who have the money from choosing to pay for their own medical procedures.
For every example of a big, bad evil government limiting the rights of its citizens, I can find an equal number of examples of how corporate greed has directly harmed private citizens. BP, Union Carbide, insurance companies like Blue Shield denying cancer treatment to kids, and on and on.
Don't get me wrong--I am not thrilled with the US gov't and don't find them particularly trustworthy. But because they are the government, answerable to its people, I don't see how they are less trustworthy than the CEOs, who answer only to shareholders, not citizens.
I'm not going to pre-apologize because, though I enjoy your company on this board, I don't actually know any of you and therefore don't fear offending anyone. So,
ReplyDeleteHear hear for the support for healthcare reform and a *gasp* SOCIALIZED system where healthcare is universal. Let's go all the way.
Don't listen to Fox News or any other 24hour news channel for that matter - we're not really as divided a country as is the perception. The American people predominantly DO WANT progressive change when it comes down to the issues (polls free of rhetoric or partisan labels have revealed this) - they just don't know who to vote for to get it.
The "issues" that capture votes these days shouldn't even be on the table: taxes? separation of church & state? abortion? the civil rights of homosexuals? Biggest DUHS ever in a democracy that is devoted to the protection of non-majority interests as ours was created to be, sorry, that stuff shouldn't even be debatable...
And that nonsense is simply preventing us from frying the fish that affect our most important American problem - the economy - which are equal public (as in NOT privatized) access to healthcare and education so we can get on with it already and stop bending over backward (usually for simple reasons of racism and ignorance) to enrich the wealthy elite with the skin off the backs of regular folks like most of us are.
Good grief! Happily most people here seem pretty right-minded but for the clueless among us - WAKE UP!
Prayers for this girl and her sweet husband-to-be.
No words. I'm glad she has a great attitude, but that is just beyond tragic for everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteTrying to think of something clever to say about "non-prophet" healthcare but just not coming up with anything. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a horribly tragic story.
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ReplyDelete@Jessica Really Jessica, you sure are setting my ignorant ass straight. Coming from someone as eloquent and well versed it means a lot to me. Cool. As a matter of fact, I do know what I'm saying coming from a background in insurance, medical malpractice and law. Taking only into consideration the insurance side is not being well informed. Keep the Obama thinking cap on, you're gonna need it later on when there is no money to treat your case of early dementia.
ReplyDeleteSelock, I hope you're right. I hear people bitch about the possibility of socialized healthcare all the time--I hear it on the subway, at work, in the grocery store, etc., and I don't understand where they're coming from. I can understand why rich CEOs are against reform, but when I hear an apparently average person bitching about it, I can't understand why they're so devoted to corporate culture when that same corporate culture doesn't give a fuck about them and seeks to bleed them dry the same as anyone else. I guess they're lucky enough to have never had a health crisis. Or maybe they come from money and have never had to struggle. Who knows.
ReplyDeleteI still would like an answer as to why anyone feels that corporations are more trustworthy than the government. I've asked it many times, not just here, and I never get an answer.
@shiny_special_one
ReplyDeleteI'll take a stab at your questions, but my answers are based on political theory, not emperical observations.
The thing about America is that, traditionally, you're a very status quo country and I think, as a result of that, people are worried about change and how it will effect them. Also, as redsiren pointed out, you can't, constitutionally, force people to join this governmental health care system.
Whomever said, up there, that you can't have outside care is, I believe, wrong. At least from everything I've read and had to read about the health care reform in the States.
That being said, I think that people trust corportations more than the government because there is less transparency in government, mostly cause there has to be, than there is in private enterprise. Governments do covert missions all the time and I think people (read: the citizenry) feel betrayed when they evetually find out about it.
One more thing. I was serious about money being the reason that people balk about this reform. I mean, it's no happy coincidence that AARP is the largest lobbyist group in America.
Thanks for listening.
Ah....you all have hit on an interesting question......Why do people vote against their own best interests ?
ReplyDeleteThis is something that has nagged at me for years....
I think because a lot of people don't know what is in their best interest. A lot of people have no idea how their governmental machinery works, nor the platforms of politicians that are running for whatever they are running for. Because of this people rely on the news, which is mostly partisan, and other pundits (Colbert, O'Reilly, Stewart) to tell them what the news, political and otherwise, means. It's pretty hard to form your own opinion, and realise what is in your best interest when you don't do your own rescearch and instead rely on others to tell you what to think.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I love this topic, it's what I do. Hopefully this conversation will be still going when I get back from school.
what about the ethical questions I posed Sue Ellen? Just wondering your opinion
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for the thoughtful reply, Sue Ellen! You've given me a lot to think about. I wish I could say more now, but my break is almost over.
ReplyDeleteI love this topic as well, and hardly ever get a chance to participate in thoughtful conversations about it, so I'm thrilled right now. LOL.
I'm also loving that the catalyst for this conversation is a gossip blog--a place I would never expect to find good dialogue on a serious topic. Whee!
About public money going towards abortion/stem cell research if the HCS is reformed? That's a tricky one.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me while I geek out:
On one hand you have Roe v. Wade that "legalizes" abortion, but on the other hand you have religions that are against abortion. I would imagine the constitutional right of freedom of religion and the right to practice said religion would superceede the legal precedent set by Roe v. Wade because relgion is a civil liberty and abortion is a civil right. We're talking fundamentals here. And if that's not the case, and that's just my biased (idealist) opinion, I would say that religious reasons would still superceed that precendent because politician's main interests are keeping their jobs. If they fail to devliver on promises, such as this reform, or fail to create solid legislation that doesn't die at some point throughout the process, then they are likely to lose seats.
Anyway, from what I remember from the project I had to do on HR 3200(which is the bill's name) that abortion would not be covered but they would give a subsidy to a woman that needed one, like a shared cost.
All that being said, I don't really know what the big deal is with health care reform, but I am Canadian, so my opinion comes from a very different cultural base and bias.
Back to school now. BBL to check this out.
Great comments and questions raised. Sue Ellen, I enjoyed your posts, even if I found some of the points you made really depressing. Not your fault. Has nothing to do with you at all--I just find the world in general depressing right now, LOL.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that struck the most resonance for me is what you said about people not doing their own research and relying on others for what to think. I fear you're right and that that goes on way more than people would want to admit. It certainly would explain the answer/reaction I almost always get from people when I ask things like, "Why are you so against health care reform?" or "Really? Do you REALLY feel that health care should be for profit or corporations are more trustworthy than the gov't?" 98% of the time when I ask people this directly, they avert their eyes and either laugh or get defensive, and then they change the subject.
The idea that many (if not most) people rely on news (or church or pundits or Sarah Palin or astrology or whatever) to form opinions is beyond disappointing to me, though. It's not that fucking hard to look into things so you can make informed decisions for yourself. It's not that hard to think about something for five fucking minutes and really assess whether it makes sense for you, or--and here's a novel idea--someone else.
I'm just going to shut up because I'm obviously not really in the mood to discuss. Just having a bad day, I guess.
Appreciate the great conversation, though!
The reason they can't get married is because she receives Medicaid because of the accident, and if they get married, they would have to take in account the husband's income, and that would be too much to be eligible. I read that in a different article about this couple.
ReplyDeletewell now...that's interesting
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the person who thinks Colbert and Stewart are actually pundits!
ReplyDelete