Impaled By Stick, Uninsured Man's Ordeal At Heart Of Health Care Debate

After several days of waiting for a transfer, the surgeons at Fresno decided to operate because Turner risked infection from the stick, Milardo said. The Fresno hospital brought in a neurosurgeon from another facility to assist ear-nose-and-throat surgeons in a procedure that was expected to take between eight and 20 hours, Turner and Milardo said. The surgery was Thursday, March 29.

Turner was discharged on Monday after he no longer needed pain medication.

It's still not clear how much the procedure will cost. Officials at the Fresno hospital assisted him in applying for retroactive health coverage provided at the county level in California, along with a number of other public programs. There's no guarantee that he will receive coverage, and Turner said that hospital staff told him that the bills will probably be in the six figures.

On the day of his surgery, one of Turner's friends from graduate school, Kristine Teets, started an online fundraising campaign at YouCaring.com. Search "Mike Turner" and you'll find his story. Only five days into fundraising, the account had raised almost $18,000. It had nearly $20,000 by Friday.

"I said, 'Holy guacamole, that's a lot of money,'" Teets said after checking Turner's account earlier this week.

With a current goal of $50,000, even the YouCaring account might not cover all the bills.

Aside from the medical debt, Turner is still wondering about his recovery. To remove the stick, surgeons cut through his ear canal. He can't hear in his right ear. He can't move the right side of his face. He has a tube in his neck draining fluid from the wound. He has to tape his right eyelid shut at night because he can't move it. He also has to water his right eyeball so it won't get infected and make him blind in that eye.

"My son has been a risk-taker all of his life," Milardo said. "He's done extreme sports. ... I always thought, one of these days, he's going to get hurt. But I think that he has changed his outlook a little bit. I think that he is realizing you have to balance excitement with caution."

Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides about the individual mandate, Milardo and Turner both hope that the story of his injury will get young adults who don't have health insurance to consider getting it — if they can afford it and get access to it.

"Anything can happen," Milardo said. "They really ought to get any type of insurance they qualify for. Any type of insurance is better than no insurance."