I saved a girl from drowning. She then sued me. - (Reddit Ask Me Anything)

our /oz credit i saved the girl from drowning she then sued me ask me anything i am a trained swimmer and completed all classes to become a lifeguard however swimming never was more than a hobby for me and i chose a totally different career path in 2007 i saved the girl from drowning for those of you unexperienced with sea shores and beaches the sea will always push you back to the shore unless you are further than a given point after this given point the strong current will either push you deeper into the sea or keep you where you are you can't just float back to the shore you will drown for exhaustion in 2007 I was at the beach with a few friends when I noticed a girl way too far from the shore by too far I mean way too far at least twice as far as any other person her gestures were clear she was drowning barely keeping her head above water I turned around no lifeguard I later learned the man chose to take a break and was at the bathroom to make this clear she was getting further and further from the shore by the second I'm a good swimmer I raced to her then carried her on my back to the shore keeping her above water she had already swallowed a lot of water I risked my own life because my weight with hers could have been too much but I made it the lady later sued me now I learned later that she had to spend three days of the hospital's couldn't afford it tried to sue the beach owners but her case was rejected but he still sued me her case I should have saved her earlier I had been careless not carrying her to the shore fast enough and should have led the lifeguard to his job yes you read that right I had injured her she was in pain she wouldn't have swallowed as much water if that makes any sense et CET sea etc I had the case thrown out by a judge but still had to hire a lawyer and to suffer the humiliation it was an unnecessary stress I felt disgusted and betrayed ask me anything edit thanks for the great questions I'm off for the night I will answer in the morning you should send her Christmas cards every year just like the sweetest happiest passive-aggressive Christmas card you can muster maybe a picture of you down at the beach with a Santa hat or something with a nice little just thankful we're both alive to celebrate another Christmas I wish you a safer and prosperous new year PS be careful when swimming next summer that's a great idea and it would possibly even work but I really don't want to have anything to do with this woman my god that would be a horrible yet strangely appropriate way to troll the [ __ ] out of someone right I try to think what would make her feel like [ __ ] at first I thought digging her house would do the trick but then I thought how she should have to remember for the rest of her life that the only reason she is still on this planet is cause one guy who is nice enough to send her a Christmas card every year dragged her unworthy corpse out of the ocean I try to think what would make her feel like [ __ ] I can't imagine that anything would make a person who sued the person who saved their life feel bad about themselves haha good point duck it let's just take her house I'll [ __ ] in her mailbox and I'll fill it with wet cement so the poop will be there forever teamwork is less than high-five is greater than this somehow evoked an image of two generic redditors Eiffel towering our standard metal mailbox dirt fat I think that drowning horrid nice it is is a great idea it's what type do totally you could even wave to her every time you see her just to keep the memories current she might get all choked up at nice gesture she might even swallow her pride and apologize all right guys this is going a little overboard yeah can we give this thread some room to breathe we ought not to get swept away here I don't know we may be in too deep already you sure are I see what you did there [ __ ] that's awful I nearly drowned at Virginia Beach when I was 13 or 14 an off-duty firefighter saved my life it would have never occurred to me to be anything less than eternally grateful okay a question how can a beach have an owner it's not like an acre in a subdivision you just drop a house on also did this put you off helping people in the future how can a beach have an owner the city also did this put you off helping people in the future no not really well I didn't really get another such occasion but I would do it again duck medical bills if you ever save my life I'll give you $3,500 I am really glad you would do it again not all people would assault you for money after saving their lives most of us would thank you remember you and share it you the lawsuit really wasn't about you you know that right dealing the right thing in a litigious nation must be difficult just as doing the right thing in a violent neighborhood cannot always be easy this I know in all the accident scenes disturbing altercations that have happened to me or around me one thing remained constant my ability to remain human and the face of others ferocity if you ever get the chance to help someone again please jump in with both shoes and know that you are doing the right thing how much did you have to pay for the lawyer and other legal fees how much time did the ordeal take up I paid around $3500 but I had to hire another lawyer the first lawyer recommended me to accept a deal with the defendant citing that legal fees alone would be more than the deal she sued for 150 thousand dollars but lawyer offered to settle for twenty thousand dollars which was her medical bill her legal fee and lost wages I immediately refused and fired the lawyer I had already given him a rate hundred dollar deposit he worked a grand total of three hours maximum on my case this took around 3-4 months to settle we filed a motion to dismiss and it was granted doesn't the plaintiff have to cover your legal expenses as well as punitive damages for wasting your time that's the ultimate irony I could have sued her for frivolous lawsuit for my legal fee but there was no guarantee I would win even if I won there was no guarantee she would pay me if I lose I would have even more legal fees to pay since you spend $3,500 I would imagine it would be something that could be taken to small claims $5,000 or less small claims works differently than regular court lawyers can be involved but often aren't you and the defendant go before a judge and you explain your case you argue about it and the judge makes a decision there is a lot less BS involved that's how I understand it at least I myself have never gone to small claims Judge Judy time JJ pays the winnings from its budget so if he went to Judge Judy he will get the money no matter the girl is broke actually this isn't a bad idea a murca duck yep you mean being a lawyer duck yet no matter the outcome lawyers always win something like this happened to my uncle as an off-duty fireman he saw a car with two girls and their twenties go off a bridge into an orchard by the time he got to the car he saw that the girl in the passenger seat was dead the car was on fire and he suffered burns getting the girl out of the driver's seat the surviving girl then sued him because she said he hurt her back and won so what's the lesson here next time let n burn or some job there judge I sometimes cannot comprehend how judges actually hear these cases disclaimer I have limited knowledge in law I do have a bit of common sense but that comes and goes I have limited knowledge in law I do have a bit of common sense but that comes and goes sounds exactly what an average judge would say victim probably had a better lawyer judge was prejudiced whether intentionally or unintentionally civil courts sometimes focused too heavily on little technicalities in law while relevant facts such as I save that beaches life are neglected by the judge I'm sure you know all of this but you'd be surprised by much of a difference these little things make in the legal system similar story my brother-in-law saved an old man whose airway was blocked with a McDivitt tracker me he lost his job as a paramedic because of the subsequent lawsuit that hideous scar on his neck was uber traumatic compared to his imminent death god I hate the American justice system honestly I'd be stoked to get a hideous scar across my neck as a reminder that someone saved my life with an impromptu utricle to me I would be honored to wear that badge I was saved by a random guy when I was drowning at age 50 he could have easily drowned with me but instead did what you did and carried me out of the river and safely to shore before an ambulance even got there six years later I still think about it and I never got to give him simple thank-you because I was in shock and being seen by paramedics I would give anything to find this guy I want you to know that what you did was amazing and you deserve nothing but honor for it see if you don't stick around you can't get sued my grandfather pulled a man out of a burning car and immediately left after the ambulance arrived for precisely that reason you should have got the media involved and had her publicly humiliated agreed I'd have been tempted as soon as the summons came to call a local TV station and ask them to do a report on it to see if you could embarrass her enough so that she dropped the lawsuit whilst I don't agree with her suing anyone surely she would have had more of a case against the city since there wasn't a lifeguard around that's the most laughable case I've ever heard if I was a judge I'd order her to be drowned off with her lungs I read about a case in Iran where a guy threw acid on a girl's face and blinded her the judge ordered that the attacker also be blinded with acid what an evil dumped good job for saving someone's life even if they didn't deserve it amongst her charge was that I injured her while giving her CPR as opposed to not giving her CPR maybe you gave her CPR yeah which might be part of the reason she sued me actually I'm black she was white and not too appreciative of minorities or so I've heard what an stupid a hell of a woman thank you for being the good guy man aren't there good Samaritan laws that protect against you getting sued if you hurt someone while trying to save them like pulling someone from a burning car only to worsen an injury or giving someone CPR after they almost drowned good question I came to ask the same thing under the Good Samaritan laws which grant immunity if the Good Samaritan makes an error while rendering emergency medical care he or she cannot be held legally liable for damages in court however two conditions usually must be met one the aid must be given at the scene of the emergency and two if the volunteer has other motives such as the hope of being paid a feel reward then the law will not apply source I hereby order you to change your name to Leigh Ranger duck your shitty lawyer go for the 20k plea deal water shitty lawyer unfortunately that's the sort of number that could actually be cheaper than litigation people who sue use that tactic all the time especially the RIAA we're going to rape you for a bazillion dollars in levies and lawyers fees but we'll settle with you right now for a cool five thousand dollars the trick is to make the settlement offer comparable to what it would cost to defend yourself in court so his lawyer may not have been shitty so much as he or she was simply being practical surprised that even made it to court what did it end up costing you in legal fees $3,500 aprox can I just say on behalf of her thank you so much she may be less than human but what you did is so much more than 99% would have really you are awesome it would make sense to reverse your action I've thought a lot about it tell me if that makes sense let's say I see the exact same girl drowning again what would I do what would I honestly do I've thought about it for long she was suing me for $150,000 which is more than everything I have she would have destroyed my life and I think I would save her again even if I know that by saving her I might get sued again however this time I would try not to give my name just save her and run away Hey the worst is I gave my name to the emergency workers just in case they would later need my help or some information yep so moral of the story when you help someone don't give your name and run like hell or give a rivals name someone you wouldn't mind getting critical getting sued you probably would also get mad respect in the media for being a humble mystery hero you did what was right that is all that matters you saved a life I saved the team from drowning he was thrashing around and when I approached he grabbed straight on to me and started drowning me to save himself I ended up punching him two times in the face which gave me the opportunity to turn him and swim us to the shore I would have socked him in the face a couple more times if he tried to sue me for that [ __ ] straight up that's how you save a life like a boss the technique for that is to take a deep breath ASAP and swim for the bottom they will let go your method worked fine lol - but in case you ever need it in the future write to your Congressman seriously at the very least you might get a signed commendation out of it which while not worth $3500 may help you out somewhat throw you made it to the end you're ducking beasts thanks for watching mate make sure to smash that like button and subscribe for more high quality content

Channel: Sir Reddit

Views: 1,452,955

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Keywords: reddit, askreddit, askreddit funny, top posts, top posts of r/, r/, r/askreddit, reddit top posts, reddit cringe, comedy, reddit compilation, top posts of all time, askreddit question, askreddit top posts, ask reddit, askreddit reading, subreddit, reddit stories, best of r/askreddit, funny reddit, best reddit posts, best of reddit, reddit ask me anything, reddit ama, ask me anything, r/iama, saved a girl from drowning, sued me

Id: U57fUK5FfaE

Length: 14min 30sec (870 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 02 2019