A Berrien County woman, out of work, and unable to afford health insurance, says she shot herself so that she'd finally get medical treatment for a shoulder injury. It happened on Thursday afternoon at her home in Niles. Kathy Myers, 41, says she hurt her shoulder about a month ago while playing with her dogs in her backyard.
And while she has been treated with pain medication, she says the pain has become unbearable, but she can't see a specialist to fix the problem because she can't afford health insurance. "They said it would have to be life-threatening or imminent danger for them to do anything, so I was making it be imminent danger that something had to be done," she said. The bullet missed anything major and she was released from the hospital a few hours later.
"I really didn't accomplish what I hoped it would accomplish. I was really hoping it would hit an artery or bone so they would do the surgery and fix me," she said. "I have no suicide wish. My life sucks right now but I want to live. I've got lots to live for and there's more good than bad in everything in my life, so that's not what it was about at all... I just want to take the pain away." She’s now searching for a specialist that will accept some sort of payment plan she can afford.
"I would hope that most people would understand this is the extreme and that they would not attempt something like this," said Niles Police Captain James Millin. "When a bullet enters your body, there's no telling where it's going to go." Myers says she wouldn't do it again. The case has been forwarded to the prosecutor's office to decide whether she will face criminal charges for shooting a weapon within city limits.
No comments:
Post a Comment