September 15 2024, location: oklahoma
I was at work and 17 at the time, my manger asked for assistance starting a chainsaw and made the stupid decision to hold it down and have me pull on the string to start it. Well it locked up and dropped the chainsaw on my wrist, which of course cut it wide open. I was rushed to the hospital by a different employee and wasn’t treated or given anything for the pain for about 45 minutes to an hour almost leading to me going in shock as the adrenaline wore off. And I was brought back to work a day and a half after and filed for workers comp and requested time off. My workers comp was denied and they gave me no paid time off. As of today they still have yet to pay a single hospital bill, and I’m still having lasting effects from the incident as weather changes cause sharp pains in the scar tissue and I’m unable to be around any chainsaws or similar machinery without almost having an anxiety attack. Originally I didn’t want to get into a legal case with them because I don’t like conflict but at this point it’s become way too stressful constantly getting these unpaid bills in the mail I was told they’d pay. But not only that they had me sign papers pretty much the day after the incident and I was still underaged and they didn’t get parental consent either so I really don’t know if I screwed myself there. Just looking for advice on what to do, I was hoping I could get a settlement and my bills paid at the very least for the pain and issues caused by this. I’d include pictures of the scar but I’m unable to add attachments. It’s about two and a half inches long and had 7 or more stitches. I don’t recall if there were any internal stitches but it was a deep enough cut that there very well could have been.