We Got Hit by a Car in the Philippines… Then They Blamed Us

Sir, can you sit down, sir? I will assist you. What happened, sir? We were just driving down the road and turned across. They pulled me here and right in front of us. This is not how we thought we'd be spending the night. Not at all. Especially on my birthday. My back is killing me. I can barely walk. But the more scary is we just collapsed twice. And it's not a good feeling at all. Come on, baby. I'll be okay. You better be okay. I know they might think like, oh, she's overdramatic and stuff like that. But they don't know what happened. It was pretty bad. We were driving back from McDonald's. And yeah, this car just cut across our lane coming in the other direction. I think they missed their turn. They just right in front of us. Didn't even look. We slammed into the side of the car. Both of us went flying off the motorbike. Man, I woke up on the ground. My face was bleeding. And all I saw was one of Ann's shoes. I was so scared. I looked up and thankfully she was okay. We got over to the side of the road. I just passed out. You scared the ---- out of me. Yeah, it was terrifying. He is in the Philippines. I am responsible. I should be the one taking care of him. But he's a grown man, right? Sometimes. And then the ambulance came and picked us up. And they brought us to the hospital. And they took our licenses and never gave them back. They did x-rays and CT scans. And after like five hours they told us we could go. After they didn't give me pain medication for four or five hours. And as I was going out I just completely passed out. And I woke up in another bed. And they told me I had to spend the night. When I turned around you were just like pale. Your lips were like dark purple. And you're not responding. You're just like this. I was so scared. And then when we moved you to this area to put you in the bed. Suddenly you became like red. And then you didn't know what happened. Don't worry guys. We have the best nurse. Even if my tailbone is hurting I am here with him. I mean we have to buy alcohol. We have to buy cotton baths. Iodine to clean his face. We are coming here supposedly that they could help us. That they could do that. But it was not. Yeah. I don't know. I've never really been in a hospital situation like this before. And this is one of the nicer hospitals in Dumaguete. So I don't know. At least it's not worse. And it definitely could have been so much worse. Thankfully I wasn't driving very fast. And it doesn't hurt too bad. Her back is definitely hurting pretty bad right now. My ribs are killing me. It's hard to breathe. It is scary as hell. I mean I know we've just been together for like 4 months. Almost 5. This coming 14. And seeing him collapsing like that is just killing me. Yeah. I'm sorry baby. It is what it is. It could be worse. So I'm just thankful that it's not a big accident. Like someone is gone. Or my teeth. Or our head. Or yeah. Yeah. Going any faster and it would have been way worse. I'm just glad that I had the reaction time to slow it down. And I'm also super grateful that I have travel insurance. I use Safety Wing. And they've been with me. I've been using them for like 10 years. And they never let me down. So I contacted them as soon as I got to the hospital. And they said don't worry about it. Just get the receipts and the proper paperwork from the doctor. And you should be reimbursed soon. So if you're looking for good travel health insurance. Safety Wing is definitely the way to go. I'll put a link in the description down below. Because, man, it would be terrible if I just had to pay for all this out of my pocket. And the way it works in the Philippines is they won't do anything until you pay. So even if you're like knocking on death's door. They wouldn't assist you before you pay. They won't assist you until they either get your credit card payment or cash. So, yeah, it's just nice to know that I have Safety Wing in my corner for this. So it's been 24 hours. I'm still in the hospital. The doctor yesterday didn't really tell me anything. They just kept giving me tests. And then at like 9 o'clock the nurse was like you're spending the night because the doctor went home. So we'll let you know in the morning. And then I just went and had an EKG. And then one of the other nurses came and said he thinks I might be able to see a doctor today. I'm like, I'm literally so confused. I have like boxes and boxes and boxes of medication that keep showing up. But no one's telling me what it is. It says antibiotics, but I've had like 12 antibiotic shots. I don't know, just like little bottles and stuff. But nobody knows what it is. No one can tell me what I can do. He just told me I could finally eat something because for 36 hours they've been saying you can't eat. Why can't I eat? The doctor says you can't eat. So he just told me I can eat. And I had my first sip of water in 36 hours. Imagine that. And yeah, I just have no idea what's going on. I have a flight tomorrow. And I don't even know if I'm going to be leaving by then. When I told him that, he was like, what time is your flight? I'm like, why does it matter? I can't be here for another day. They cleared me for cardiology, neurology. I don't have any broken bones, just bruised ribs. But I'm still in the hospital and no one knows why. And the doctor might be able to see me today. At least I have two Filipinas with me to keep me company. But they don't want to be here either. We don't even know if the doctor is going to do rounds today or tomorrow or the day after. We don't have a choice. We have to go. In behalf of Filipinos, we apologize. Finally home. Yes, we are finally home after our experience at the hospital. And it ended about as well as it went for the entire rest of the experience. They finally decided to discharge us. And they let me know that I do have a concussion. Bruised ribs, Anne's back has some soft tissue damage. So she's definitely in some pain. But they made me stay overnight because the doctor left last night so that I could get an EKG on my heart. And then I demanded that I got to see a doctor because we were waiting and waiting. And so we finally saw the doctor and he said, we'll let you know. So we waited another five hours. And then they said, okay, you're cleared to go. You know, everything's fine. Just time to go. And I asked for all the relevant documents so I could apply for my insurance that I mentioned before, Safety Wing. And they were like, oh, yeah, well, you can get the results downstairs on your way out. So we grabbed all of our stuff. They gave me the bill, which was way more than we had anticipated. Yeah, my God, that was so expensive. Almost a thousand dollars. And I went downstairs to get the document. And the lady was like, oh, we don't get that information for three to five days. And I'm like, three to five days? How did you just discharge me? You made me stay overnight to take this test. And you don't know the results. And you're not going to get the results for three to five days. I'm not going to even be in the country in three or five days. And they were like, really? Oh, we didn't even... Why did they let you go if they didn't give you the results? I'm like, I don't know. I don't work at the hospital. But, yeah, just a very, very interesting experience. Like, it was kind of shocking. Like, I've been to hospitals in developing nations before. And, you know, like, we went to a private hospital here in Dumaguete. But, you know, like, I was there for four or five hours with just blood caked on my face. Like, they never... Like, I was laying... No one was, like, trying to help you out, to clean up to you and stuff like that. So since there's no one, we have to take an action. So we bought all the alcohol, the cotton pads, the iodine to just clean up for ourselves. I know. Because if they don't, then we will... Just be sitting there covered in blood and dirt. And, you know, like, just a very weird... You know, like, they put us in a room finally. And, like, the toilet for the men didn't even have a toilet seat on it. Like, how am I supposed to... Like, I couldn't sit on that if I needed to. Like, I can barely bend over with my ribs like this. Very strange. Like, the oxygen ran out two times. I had to tell them. The dextrose is no more. Yeah, the drip for the IV ran out twice. They told me I couldn't eat for 36 hours. And then each one of them was like, what, you can't eat? Oh, you can eat. I'm like, what? Who's telling me this? And then the fact that we saw the doctor one time in all of that time and then I had to go out and find him. And he was like, yeah, I saw you the other day. I know you are okay and you can get out of here. I'm like, if he knows about this, why are we, like, paying another night? I know. I did kind of feel like I got a little bit of the shaft on that. Like, I don't know if it's because I'm a foreigner that they just assume, like, oh, he can pay for it so we don't need to worry about it. Because I don't think they would just do that to Filipino people. Maybe they would, but to charge me for an entire extra day. And, like I told you, I woke up today with, like, a giant thing of medication. Like, the doctor couldn't see me. How could he have prescribed me a whole other block of medicine? Yeah, it was very strange. And no one had any answers. It was like, can I talk to the doctor? Oh, yeah, well, I'll request that. Like, can I please have something cold to put on my face? Because, you know, I'm swollen and my ribs are swollen and they hurt. And they're like, yeah, we'll put in a request. We'll put in a request. And, yeah. So we got to the point that, you know what, let's get in there. We request. I'm not going to anymore accept a new medication for you. We're done here. So we went to the cashier and, like, talked to them. And then finally we see the doctor. And, like, they're starting processing the discharge paper and stuff and stuff like that. But, yeah, I mean, like, yes, I live here in the Philippines and I feel embarrassed of our system. On behalf of the Philippines, I'm so sorry for this. Yeah, well, I appreciate that. And I'm not blaming the Philippines. It's just, you know, like, I had a certain, I guess, expectation because we were going to, like, a private hospital that things would be taken care of, at least to a certain, you know, degree of professionalism. But it didn't happen. And, you know, like, that's just one of the realities of traveling. You know, I'm not complaining. I'm so happy to be here in the Philippines. I'm so grateful that Anne and her friends were there to take care of both of us because for you to do that on our own, it would have been almost impossible. Her friend Jenny slept on the floor all night last night just so she could, like, assist us when we had to go to the bathroom and, you know, go get the doctor when we needed stuff. But if she hadn't been there, it would have been tough and lonely and scary. So, yeah, I don't recommend getting into an accident anywhere, but try not to do it in the Philippines if you can avoid it because it was definitely not the best experience going to the hospital. And there is more. Tomorrow, we have to go to the police station and try to negotiate and settle things up. You cannot believe what happened today. So we went to the police station because we had to come in today to file a report with the person who was guilty for causing the accident. We signed a form that said he was guilty for causing the accident, and he shows up in his gold watch and his gold chain and his gold rings, and the first thing he does is come in and start saying it wasn't his fault, it was our fault, and we should have to pay 100,000 pesos for the damage to his car. Now, we just spent two days in the hospital, and our medical bills together are like almost 70,000 pesos, which is $1,000. And his solution was no one should pay anything because he had damage to his car, so we should just call it even. And I tried to stay calm, and Jenny started getting a little more upset about it, and he started yelling at me and telling me that I shouldn't be driving. I have a foreign license, which I do, which is legal here. And then the best part was he accused me first of intentionally driving my motorbike into the side of his car to get money from him, and then when that didn't work, he said that I must have just taken my face and slammed it into the side of his car after I was unconscious on the ground from the accident. He accused me of getting up and hitting my face on his car, even though we have video of me passed out on the ground and people standing around me. So, yeah, it was pretty ugly. This was intense. I mean, like, it's hurtful to hear that from the other Filipino, because I'm a Filipino, to hear that from the others that we do it on purpose to get the money. I mean, it was pretty ridiculous. And the police literally, when we got there, told him, you can't just turn because you have your blinker on. You can't just go into the other lane whenever you want to. And they kept saying, well, it was an accident, so no one should have to pay. And it's like, you caused this accident. You drove into us. And then he started accusing us, and even though he signed a form that said he was, he admitted he was wrong on the scene and admitted that he did pull in front of us, that police said, well, that's not our job to determine this. So either you can take 20,000 pesos now. Or go to the court. Or you can go to court, which can take months or years and cost even more than what you will get for your bills. And that's it. They said the police, it's not their job to determine who's wrong. And, like, it honestly got me, like, I was okay until he started saying that we did it on purpose. And then his wife, who was there very calmly trying to explain to us that, you know, it's just our opinion that it was their fault. And it's like, you have a right of way on the road. You're driving in your lane. Somebody pulls into your lane and puts you in the hospital and messes up your motorbike. And that's not an opinion. That's what happened. And that's what the police recorded at the scene. And yet somehow we managed to get told that, well, you can go to court and they can determine it. But, you know, there's not really anything we can do. So you can either take 20,000, which just barely covers Ann's bills, not even knowing what the motorbike is going to cost. And then my bills, which are in the 60,000 range because I have a concussion. I have bruised ribs. The medication I had to get, the two days I had to spend in the hospital, the antibiotics, the pain meds. It's pretty ridiculous. And, like, after the guy accused us of all that stuff, his wife came up and said, you know, Filipinos are good people in their hearts. Don't forget that. And I honestly just wanted to say not you people. You people are scam artists and liars. And, like, not that I expected anything more to really come out of this. But this is pretty messed up, in my opinion. Like, I'm a tourist in your country driving legally, maintaining the law, wearing a helmet, driving under the speed limit. Someone admitted guilt, was told by the police in front of us that they can't just turn whenever they want to. And somehow we got the complete shaft for the entire situation. And the guy, like, came in with the money and was, like, kind of, like, just pass it off like, no apology, no, you know, sorry this happened. And I guess we still have the option to go to court if we want to. But, like they said, it could take months or years. And, you know, I'm a foreigner, so I honestly have no idea what kind of a leg I would have to stand on here if I was in court against a Filipino. I'm sorry, but you have to experience this one. I'm embarrassed because, like, he is talking that you don't have the right. I'm like, he have the right. Just because you're a foreigner? Yeah, it was really sad. And poor Ann was sitting there shaking in her seat. She was so angry and just trying to keep it under control. Yeah, I just, again, it's such a sad thing because I think Filipino people are wonderful with such big hearts. But then you meet some guy like this who's driving a fancy car with all this gold jewelry. And go to church. Yeah, like we had to come to the police station in the afternoon because he was at church this morning. Like, what does that even mean if you're going to come in and lie and then accuse us or accuse me of staging the accident that we could have died in. Where I was unconscious on the ground. That I smashed my face into his car on purpose and or crashed my motorbike into his car on purpose so I could try and get money from them. Just really sad. And, you know, it's part of, you know, traveling happens. I know it's not home. And even if it was back in the States, I'm not saying something similar couldn't happen. Like, we would still have to go to court. But this seemed pretty cut and dry that we ended up in the hospital. And it just, you know, there's good and bad people everywhere. Unfortunately, this guy was not a good person. Yeah, I mean, like the first time he came in, he started yelling already. I mean, we came there to settle, to like, you know, hear both parties and stuff like that. But he just slammed the door. Yeah. And, you know, like we weren't asking for anything but the medical bills and the cost of Ann's motorbike being fixed. Like, I don't think that's too much to ask for. We're not asking for lost wages. Like, Ann probably can't work for this week because her back's messed up. Who knows how long. I missed my flight that I was supposed to take today because I can't carry a bag because my ribs are so messed up and my head's still swimming. And, you know, like to go in and be accused of that after somebody signed a form and said they were wrong. And then the police were just like, I mean, the police were very nice and calm. But, you know, I guess I just hoped for more. I'm so embarrassed of our system here. Like, I know if this incident happened in America, it could be totally different. Yeah, I know. And it's not America. I appreciate your apology and it's not your fault. And I'm sorry that you guys have to live with stuff like this and do stuff like this because, I mean, it could have been so much worse. We could have literally been dead or permanently injured. So I'm just grateful that we made it out safe. That, you know, you got at least enough money to cover your medical bills. I'm sorry the motorbike isn't really going to get paid for. But hopefully my insurance will take care of it. I'll have to find out once I submit all my forms and stuff and the police report. But yeah, not the way we wanted to spend our last few days together on this trip. But I'm just grateful that you're OK. The saddest part, please. I know. 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