My house is on a corner. Oh look, there is a turtle in the road in front of my driveway. It is so cute. I am watching it. A truck comes careening around the corner. I run out between the turtle and the truck and yell stop. "Turtle!" I say, instinctively preparing to point at the turtle, but then suddenly realizing i should not point at the turtle, if I want it to live, judging by the look the driver gave me.

Do I value my life more than the life of a turtle? Yes. Should I have run out in the street between the turtle and the truck driver? No. Logically, it makes no sense. But I just did it without thinking. Reacted.

Medicaid paid for the ambulance ride to the hospital (for me, not for the turtle; I picked up the turtle and put it on my lawn). But of course the hospital could not fix my 4 broken front teeth, which they said is "all" that is wrong with me. As if broken teeth were no big deal and didn't hurt. If I had chopped off the end of 4 fingers, they would have sewn them back on, and gotten Medicaid to pay for it. But because they were "only teeth" -- the did absolutely nothing but give me drugs to control the pain.

They gave me a 3-days supply of Tylenol with codeine, to hold off the pain until I can get to a dentist. Tho like my other damaged teeth, I don't know how to manage to get these fixed properly.

Soilman! I am so sorry to hear you were injured. I am happy that the turtle is fine, but I sincerely hope you are able to get your teeth fixed.

that is so sad. sorry you were hurt. ugh, i wish they wouldve done something for your teeth. how mean that happened to my roommate too and they didnt do anything either :sick: and how sweet of you to save the turtle.

Wow, Soilman! That is so wonderful that you saved the turtle but sucks royally that you messed up your teeth. You've spent so much time and money on them. Is it possible that dudes insurance may pay for it? Was there a police report filed? Even though you may be in the the wrong for jumping into the street, if he was speeding or whatever he has some responsibility in all of this. You should check it out.

The truck did not actually strike me, MsRuthieB. I slipped and fell, on wet leaves, after the truck stopped, as I lurched toward the turtle to pick it up before the driver saw it, and broke my teeth on the ground because I was trying to avoid landing on the turtle when I fell, so my face hit the ground instead of my hands. Then I scooped up the turtle.

I already called a lawyer and he said that we could sue, and there is a small chance we would win, but that the driver's insurance company would not pay pay for injuries, automatically, unless I was actually struck by the truck. Because the insurance company would not automatically pay out, and I'd have to sue, I would therefore not be reimbursed immediately by no-fault medical coverage, I'd have to wait until we won, or settled, and I'd only be reimbursed then -- many years from now. Obviously I can't wait 4 to 14 years to have my teeth fixed. And I simply have no way to afford to have have root canals done now, and caps put on now. We are talking about around $3,000. I'll have to have the teeth extracted, and get a clip-on partial, which is all that Medicaid will pay for. A clip-on partial affords a half-assed cosmetic restoration (you can see the clips) but is absulutely useless for biting apples or eating corn.

I don't mean to sound critical here... but let me get this straight:

You want to sue the truck driver's insurance company for injuries you caused to yourself by choosing to jump in front of the truck?

R says:
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... et me get this straight: You want to sue the truck driver's insurance company for injuries you caused to yourself by choosing to jump in front of the truck?
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I never said any such thing. In fact I communicated an analysis of the idea that found little practical value in it, and by implication little merit in it.

Soilman, this is the part that made me arrive at my assumption:

I already called a lawyer and he said that we could sue

I assumed, based on that part of your statement, that you called the lawyer to see if there was the possibility of having the driver's insurance company pay for the injuries you caused to yourself. Unless I'm missing something, I cannot see any other reason why a lawer was called and for that lawer to convey to you the "chances" of winning.

No I called my lawyer to discuss something else entirely, and happened to tell him that I broke my front teeth and that was why I was having difficulty pronouncing my T's, and in general having trouble making my speech understandable. He asked me what happened, and then he volunteered the information about the possibility of suing. I didn't ask him anything about getting any recompense from the truck driver or his insurance company, for an accident that I did not see as the fault of the truck driver. It wouldn't have occurred to me, on my own, that suing would have much value to it. Mrb brought up the idea here, so I wanted to explain why I had already done enough thorough analysis of the idea to rule the idea out.

Soilman, ok... thanks for clarifying. I assumed incorrectly from the context of the post I read initially.

Funkified writes:

"but of course, glad you're ok otherwise "

I won't be ok for long.

Broken teeth that involve the pulp chamber are likely to become infected, within a few days. In upper teeth, this is likely to result in infection of maxillary bone, then the ethmoid bone, sphenoid bone, and eventually a fistula can form and start doing damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. These consequences are not at all rare. It is best to treat the teeth before the infection starts. If intervention is started later, irreversible disabling brain damage, and death may be harder to avoid. The situation can progress to brain damage in a matter of weeks, but it tends to happen sooner to someone like myself who has had a history of this kind of thing happening to him before. Since I am unable to obtain satisfactory dental care, it seems that it is what I have to look forward to.

A problem with injuries involving autos is that if your regular health insurance finds out, they might deny payment, claiming that you should get the money from the insurance company of the driver instead.

Good grief. You are one physical malady after another! Get yourself someone to take care of you, soilman, and heal thyself soon.