r/interesting • u/386attention • 29d ago
MISC. A grandma broke her nose while hiking, didn't want the helivac, and ended up spinning out of control. She won a $450,000 lawsuit.
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
4.0k
u/low_amplitude 29d ago
I'm surprised a human body can even survive that
1.4k
u/BandOfSkullz 29d ago
Actual human centrifuge.
Crazy shit.
696
u/driver004 29d ago
Think her plasma seperated in her arteries?
718
u/CraftsBoy2Craftsman 28d ago
$450K wasn’t enough
157
u/kindlypogmothoin 28d ago
Honestly, a lot of it has to do with her age. Compensatory damages will often take into account how much life someone has ahead of them, and at 74, she doesn't have a ton, even if she's in good enough shape to go hiking.
Had to really suck to have all that blood rushing to her head with a broken nose, too.
72
9
→ More replies (5)14
u/77pse 28d ago
"Well, your life was basically over already, so here, have what's in my pocket and we'll call it a day."
→ More replies (8)4
38
u/untakentakenusername 28d ago
Agreed. Wtf. Its not even a regular fit person but someone's grandmother.
29
u/Dan_The_Flan 28d ago
Fit enough to start a hike but not fit enough to finish it but fit enough to survive massive centrifugal force as an elderly individual. What a lady.
→ More replies (1)108
u/DovahZoriikFurever 28d ago
Just enough to pay for a month‘s rent!
→ More replies (2)77
29
→ More replies (10)27
28d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
14
u/Howler_in_training 28d ago
Almost enough to pay for the helicopter ride. Medevac is ungodly expensive!
→ More replies (2)14
u/Tonsilith_Salsa 28d ago
Her kidneys are behind her shoulder blades now
→ More replies (1)7
u/driver004 28d ago
No that’s her lungs, her kidneys are in her ankles. You know what? Send her to the military, center of mass shots will go right through her now!
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (5)41
u/sixfxrtyseven 28d ago
that sounds bad
really bad
26
u/Axle_65 28d ago
Oh it is. Happened to a friend of a friend of mine.
→ More replies (2)8
52
u/rochey64 28d ago
I wonder how many Gs' she was taking. Had to be a hella lot.
53
→ More replies (4)32
9
u/Crusty-Dick 28d ago
I think astronauts have to go through stuff like this in training
→ More replies (4)13
→ More replies (11)7
517
u/vtosnaks 29d ago
This video is sped up. Here is the unedited version. She still got bruises and swelling from all the spinning.
107
u/inspire2night 29d ago
Ya definitely a little sped up but she still spins crazy fast towards the end. Probably would have puked. Made me feel like puking watching it
→ More replies (1)44
u/Ron__Mexico_ 28d ago
Loss of consciousness would be pretty likely towards the end.
10
u/th3orist 28d ago
i wonder if it can leave permanent brain damage and lifelong nausea
→ More replies (2)17
u/Simon-Says69 28d ago
She's 75. That shit could have killed her.
Most likely popped all the blood vessels in her eyes from the pressure. She had a broken nose too. Ugg, could have choked on her own blood, passed out like that.
You can die from a few hours of hanging upside down. We're not made for that. This was the same, on TURBO. :-(
123
u/One-Part8969 29d ago
Looks the same to me
106
u/ashjohnr 29d ago edited 29d ago
Check again, she spins a lot slower in the original video. But it's still quite fast. There was no need to speed up the video for clicks.
Edit: Compare the speeds when she's closest to the helicopter body. It's most apparent there.
→ More replies (2)24
u/forgot_my_useragain 29d ago
Yes there was: so people would click. Everything for the click.
→ More replies (2)11
u/valentine_moon 29d ago
We didn't see the spinning until after we clicked though.
→ More replies (2)5
→ More replies (2)5
13
5
6
23
u/stockyappl 29d ago
Still damn fast, just as fast as in the video
5
u/valentine_moon 29d ago
It's really not. In the unedited video I can pretty much tap in time with her rotations, no chance of doing that in the OP.
5
u/Nan_is_the_best 28d ago
Its super weird that everyone is saying it's a similar speed, you're right, it's way faster in the video on this post.
20
u/Poodlepink22 29d ago
This actually makes it look even worse
7
u/valentine_moon 29d ago
In what way?
13
u/Public_Chemical3322 28d ago
Because in the sped up video, the overall duration of her spinning appears to be shorter.
In the real time video, she's still spinning way faster than anyone would ever choose to spin while injured and for much longer than in the sped up version.
→ More replies (1)6
u/KiraKitty69 28d ago
All her extremities were black from blood pooling. It's not sped up. They forgot to attach the second line guide rope. Anyways she survived so we can have a hearty laugh and feel bad later
→ More replies (15)8
35
u/Bob_stanish123 29d ago
90% sure this is sped up from what actually happened. Spinning as fast as shown here would have been fatal.
Look at how jumpy the helicopter is.
8
u/GarethBaus 29d ago
She was injured by the spinning so it was definitely pretty fast and unsafe, but not deadly.
3
u/FatiguedShrimp 28d ago
Well, we know it's not fatal (she didn't die).
NASA SP-3006 shows this is deadly (the forces depicted in the magnitude and configuration shown can kill).
→ More replies (2)19
u/anon999387 29d ago
The original video shows her rotating quickly but not this fast, this video is sped up to be more dramatic.
→ More replies (1)29
u/Lt_Hatch 29d ago
I want 3 more zeros on that payout please
6
u/Low-Temperature-6962 28d ago
Median helicopter ambulance ride is 36k, often over 50k. So yeah not nearly enough.
12
5
4
u/HurryGrand846 29d ago
Like how!?
11
u/Quietbricks 29d ago
IIRC someone explained there was an extra point of attachment that would’ve kept it from spinning. Wasn’t attached.
4
u/untakentakenusername 28d ago
Yeah. Why?? How does someone just think "nah. leave it" and then "oh shes spinning? We should bring her back down. But nah."
wtf
→ More replies (1)4
→ More replies (31)3
2.3k
u/cheesefrog 29d ago
If you watch it upsidedown, she rescues the helicopter
477
u/chuckles430 29d ago
I’m fucking dying
272
5
11
u/Necessary_Neat8303 28d ago
I was imagining and going “oh come on how funny can that be”
I was wrong LMAO I had literal tears running down my face
67
29
81
15
34
9
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
→ More replies (57)3
861
u/eyloi 29d ago
Started watching thinking, "eh, I'd probably go through that for nearly half a million", and then I get to around 15+ seconds and a wave "oh fuck no" goes through my body.
She deserves way more $450,000, like this should be an easy $5M+
205
u/Ok_Reflection_2711 29d ago
Yeah I agree that it's not enough money. I feel sick watching that video. Unforgivable negligence
83
→ More replies (1)34
u/Braindead_Crow 28d ago
I wanna know what kind of physical injuries she got from this because a few popped blood vessels seem like the bare minimum
18
u/LurcherLong 29d ago
These sorts of settlements often factor in the age of the person, i.e. how many years of contributing wages they have left...
→ More replies (1)33
u/Megacore 28d ago edited 28d ago
Which is stupid... the pain is no less on the elderly.
14
u/MikuEmpowered 28d ago
You don't get award money just because of pain.
Its a combination of "physical trauma" "emotional trauma" "cost of therapy/health care" "loss of income" and a bunch of other factors that results in the large sums of money in payouts.
→ More replies (3)35
u/PressureCoomer 29d ago
It's sped up
68
4
u/ididntsignupbychoice 28d ago
Definitely sped up. I don't remember it being that fast.
→ More replies (1)10
4
u/waypashtsmasht 28d ago
Ya she must’ve had garbage representation. Almost a quarter of that probably went to medical bills and a week in the hospital.
3
u/KerbodynamicX 28d ago
how tf did an old grandma survive this. She could have been an astronaut.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (17)5
362
u/CJnella91 29d ago
How is this even possible, wtf?
318
u/Typititan 29d ago
I’m shocked she lived. I’ve done this on a tire swing at about 1/4 the speed she was zoomin at. Literally thought I was going to die from the blood rushing into my hands and head.
→ More replies (1)100
u/CJnella91 29d ago
I looked into it and while this is true, the Grandma actually hurt her leg, and it did not spin this fast, this video is edited.
68
u/keefkola 29d ago
The original video is linked above. She spun fast AF.
→ More replies (3)24
u/CJnella91 29d ago
I know I saw it but not as fast as this video portrays it, in this video she's going nearly as fast as the propellers which would literally kill you.
5
u/SellaraAB 28d ago
Yeah I really really don’t think the human body could survive this speed for that long, especially an elderly woman.
27
u/okram2k 29d ago
extreme incompetence. when you lift someone like that you should have a second line attached to the stretcher to prevent this
8
u/HeyCouldBeFun 28d ago
There was. From the case study, the fleet angle (angle between the hoist cable and the tagline) was too steep, rendering it ineffective. Basically the guy tagging needed to be standing much further back. When the patient began to spin, it broke off.
→ More replies (9)6
u/Signal_Ad8960 28d ago
Apparently, that line broke.
In which case I'd suggest having two lines.
→ More replies (2)13
u/PressureCoomer 29d ago
It's sped up
→ More replies (3)7
u/BagpiperAnonymous 28d ago
Even in the original video, that is not sped up, there is a point where she is spinning incredibly fast.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (8)3
u/JoyousMadhat 28d ago
Lift someone and cuz of the wind and immobile helicopter, they keep spinning. The solution to prevent the spin I read from a pilot is to move forward to stabilize the spinning.
5
187
u/alaric49 29d ago
They really wanted to bill her for that expensive, unecessary helicopter lift. Glad she won.
26
u/TheIronSoldier2 29d ago edited 27d ago
Helivacs like this are usually free, even in the US. Private air ambulances are not, but this isn't a private air ambulance, it was conducted entirely by municipal personnel. They don't even bill your insurance.
The only time they're not free is either if you called for a helivac when you didn't need one, or otherwise got yourself into the situation where you needed
an air ambulanceedit: a rescue because of your own recklessness.Edit, because apparently nobody reads the full comment:
Air ambulances and SAR are two different services. If you get in a nasty crash on the highway, you'd be transported by a private air ambulance. If you get lost in the Grand Canyon, you'd be transported by a SAR team. SAR is free. Air ambulances are not. SAR resources are owned by government agencies, whether local, state, or federal. Air ambulances are privately owned by air ambulance companies.
→ More replies (14)15
u/talldrseuss 28d ago
Oh buddy, as a paramedic I can tell you that the majority of helicopters used for medevacs, including the ones used by 911 systems, are far from free. Some municipal based ones, like the ones used in LA County or the one the state of Maryland uses may not have too high of a cost associated with it. But the bulk of helicopters used by emergency services throughout the US for medevacs have high costs. It's actually a big discussion within the field of EMS about it
10
u/Sgt_lovejoy 28d ago
Medevac runs by Maryland State Police are free, 100% funded by the state. MSP have never billed a patient for service.
→ More replies (1)6
u/TheIronSoldier2 28d ago
I'm aware regarding air ambulances. My family dealt with the bill for one. Helivacs used for search and rescue are not air ambulances, and are owned either by the local government services or by the federal government, be it national guard, the parks service, or the coast guard. In this case it was a helicopter owned and operated by the Phoenix FD.
Almost everywhere in the US you will not be billed for search and rescue. You will only be billed if you are transferred to a ground or air ambulance. In this case the entire rescue and transport was handled by the search and rescue service, and the woman would not have been billed. Even if she hadn't turned into a human beyblade, she still wouldn't have been billed.
→ More replies (1)5
u/Maleficent-Hawk-318 28d ago
I'll back you up as someone who did SAR for about 15 years. I can't speak for everywhere in the US, but in the four states where I did most of my work, SAR helivacs were never charged to the subject being rescued. One state was considering passing legislation that would make them billable in cases where the subject had been negligent about their own safety (basically the whole "do something stupid, get billed for rescue" thing), but even that didn't pass.
AZ is not one of the states I have a lot of experience doing SAR in (I took some calls there while on a K9 team, but it was all cadaver recovery work so we weren't dealing with helicopters), but I did live there for a few years and paid attention to that kind of news, and I never really heard about billing for SAR helivacs. Doesn't mean they weren't, but I'd be pretty surprised.
→ More replies (4)
114
u/SuzyCreamcheezies 29d ago
She's not thinking about her broken nose anymore.
→ More replies (2)30
140
u/_Vagabond_1 29d ago
Her lawyer fucking SUCKS if he was only able to get her 450,000 for THAT!!
26
→ More replies (4)13
u/Objectionne 29d ago
You don't get paid just because the video looks really bad. There needs to be actual damages. Luckily for this woman she wasn't badly injured by the incident, so there's no reason for a massive payout.
14
u/Scorsonus 29d ago
Damages can be mental and emotional, as well as physical. This would be extremely traumatizing.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)10
u/Accomplished_worrier 28d ago
Oh sweet summer child, perhaps read one of the linked articles in this thread. There absolutely was bad damage done by this.
→ More replies (4)
44
u/DiligentThought9 29d ago
One of the few times I’m like “wow, that settlement is not enough.”
→ More replies (2)
262
u/Short_Switch_1807 29d ago
Its so fucked up but I can't stop laughing knowing she survived
→ More replies (10)53
u/Thanura_Malinga 29d ago
Imagine you are the crew inside the helicopter.. and you cannot do nothing to stop that.
23
u/Stu_Padidiot 29d ago
But could they do something to stop that?
10
u/BiscayneWRX 28d ago
Logic: spin start, lift higher. Spin faster, lift even higher. 🤦♂️ The moment she started spinning they should have sent her back down.
3
u/FloodedHoseBed 28d ago edited 28d ago
You should actually look up the report before thinking with your feelings. The trained professionals did exactly as protocols are written after the tagline that prevents this from happening snapped off.
This is a good lesson in learning the facts instead of getting upset over what you dont understand
→ More replies (3)3
4
u/AJFrabbiele 29d ago
forward flight, but they weren't sure if the tag line was still attached. if it were, it could foul the tail or main rotor so they ensured it wasnt there before moving.
→ More replies (11)3
→ More replies (5)5
u/raginghavoc89 29d ago
If I was the crew inside the copter my immaturity would not benefit me. I would still be doing everything in my power to assist, but still.
6
u/Ancient-Emu-8293 29d ago
Imagine trying everything while laughing like a maniac.
3
u/coolsilentebeans 29d ago
I take comfort in the fact that laughing is also what the brain does when it’s not sure what it should be doing. Because I’d be laughing pretty hard.
51
u/a_yo_mick 29d ago
Serious response ; I’d have passed out. After the first couple rotations.
Unserious response; this clips kills me every time I see it. The thought of someone’s granny spinning for her life. 🤣
4
4
u/Short-Monk-5102 28d ago
My wife and I were in the hospital welcoming our first child and this was live on TV in the delivery suite. It helped me bond with the nurses when none of them could maintain professionalism after noticing what was happening. We all just kind of stared in awe and laughed together at what this poor woman was going through. It's straight out of a cartoon.
16
50
46
u/Bee_MakingThat_Paper 29d ago
You spin me right round baby right round!
3
8
17
u/MarsupialsCantDongle 29d ago
Hell they could've detached her she'd have flown there herself
→ More replies (2)
12
7
u/No-Spare-4212 29d ago
Some people pay good money for this at amusement parks. I thought she’d pay for this ride / s
7
15
4
7
u/SkinInevitable604 29d ago
So what actually caused the rotation? Was the rope twisted?
10
u/Docha_Tiarna 29d ago
The wind from the propellers. Usually someone has a guide rope to prevent this from happening. I dont remember the details but the stretcher didn't have the line so it started spinning
→ More replies (1)4
u/CapitalCityGoofball0 29d ago
The stabilization line broke or wasn’t attached properly if if I recall correctly
→ More replies (1)
3
4
10
6
u/Dapper-Substance-876 29d ago
Why did this make me laugh so much?? 😝 I must be an awful person!
→ More replies (2)
3
3
3
3
u/moonlunita1 29d ago
A grandma survived that, damn, whats she made of, i would have died on the spot
→ More replies (1)
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
u/TurdFurg28 28d ago
I’ve seen this video dozens of times over the years and it baffles me how someone could survive this
6
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/pobox01983 29d ago
Are you saying that’s a person spinning below the chopper. What kind of hell is that? She should have given more.
2
•
u/IKIR115 29d ago edited 27d ago
The news story about this event. The woman is Katalin Metro.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hiker-who-spun-uncontrollably-during-helicopter-rescue-thought-she-was-n1014981
And the news story about the $450k settlement she received.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2021/12/01/phoenix-consider-settlement-womans-helicopter-rescue/8825291002/____
EDIT: Big thanks to u/Tim_Bracken whose comment pointed out the above link was paywalled, and provided a link via web archive!