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No one wants to get stuck with an unexpected medical bill, and a cyclist in Oregon has filed a massive lawsuit after having insult added to the literal injuries he endured after being hit by an ambulance that subsequently ferried him to the hospital for treatment.
Anyone who rides a bike in public on a regular basis knows you have to constantly keep your head on a swivel for drivers who don’t make sharing the road a top priority, and there’s sadly only so much you can do to avoid ending up on the receiving end of a collision where you’re not going to stand much of a chance against a car.
According to Oregon Live, William Hoesch learned that the hard way when he was cycling through Rainier (a small town located around an hour north of Portland) in 2022 and ended up sprawled out on the pavement after he collided with a vehicle that made a turn off of the road he was pedaling on.
If there was any silver lining, it’s that the vehicle in question was an ambulance operated by Columbia River Fire & Rescue, and the EMTs who were returning from a call at the time of the incident were able to provide the victim with some first aid before transporting him to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a broken nose and the scrapes that he suffered.
However, Hoesch was understandably less than thrilled with the $1,862 bill he subsequently received for the ride in the ambulance that was responsible for the crash that injured him and totaled his bicycle in the process, and he (with the help of the literal ambulance chaser he’s hired as an attorney) has now opted to file a $997,000 lawsuit against the Fire & Rescue company he says should be held accountable.
The bill isn’t the only point of contention, as Hoesch says he’s already shelled out $47,000 on treatment for lingering issues stemming from the crash and expects to spend at least $50,000 more in the future (he’s seeking an additional $900,000 for “pain and suffering” while citing a “decreased range of motion” and issues with his grip).