Champions World Resort ~ Ringhaver Funding, LLC ~ Music Insurance Co Negligent, No Conscience, Kissimmee, Florida

Firstly, please allow to give you some background about myself and my family so that you may understand why I am so outraged over the horrible situation that my family is in due to the negligence and indifference of Champions World Resort, and also their insurance company, Music Insurance. I am the single mother of 3 children under 12 years old, and my eldest is autistic.... Id been saving for a long time in order to take them my babies to Disney World for Spring Break. Due to my sons disability, I am only able to work part time, I am fortunate to be able to work at his school as a substitute teacher. That is my only income because I have to be available for my children.
 
Finally, Spring Break was here and we were going to Orlando for 6 days and 7 nights and doing all the parks. We'd never done the water parks before, and the kids were extremely excited to give them a try. I was also planning on stopping and staying at the Nickelodeon Resort to surprise the kids after Disney, because wed never been there. Sadly, our vacation took a very sad turn and we didnt get to do much of what we all had hoped, due to the negligence of Champions World Resort.

I booked a poolside room at Champions World Resort from 3/24-3/29, we had stayed there before ; the rates were decent and the room was a good fit for my family. Our first days of vacation were excellent, wed spend all day and into the evening trekking all over the parks, then go back to the room, cool off, and relax in the pool. Each morning the kids would start the day with a quick swim in the pool then wed set off again to enjoy the parks. We were having the vacation that Id long dreamed of giving my children.

That all came to a crashing halt on the fourth night of our stay, my 10 year old daughter sliced her foot open in the pool. She was getting out of the pool in the deep end, climbing up the ladder that had just been "reopened" when I heard her scream and she started crying hysterically. When I got to her, she was sitting on the side of the pool, holding her foot and crying while blood ran down her foot. Once I got some of the blood cleaned up, I found that she had a gash right along the bottom of her big toe. The gash was about wide and 2-3 Inches long and ran from the middle of her toe, running right through the crease where her toes and foot join. Each time she moved her toe, the gash would reopen start bleeding again. I would have taken her to the hospital but I didnt know the area and there wasnt any skin which they could stitch back to close it, essentially a chunky strip of flesh had been just peeled from her toe.

I called the front desk to let them know what had happened and asked if they had a medical kit. They told me to bring her over and theyd see what they had. I showed them her foot, which was still bleeding into the washcloth I had wrapped around it, the only medical supplies they had were an unwrapped roll of gauze and some scotch tape. I couldnt believe it. I filled out an accident report, and told them what had happened. The manager had gone home for the evening so the clerk assured me that the manager would follow up with me the next day. The maintenance man was there and I suggested he go look at the step. That ladder had been taped off because it needed repairs and the desk clerk told him that the pool company had been there that day and said it was fixed. Apparently it wasnt.. I then took the kids to the drug store to get bandages, first aid supplies and Tylenol for my daughter. From that moment on, my vacation was over.

The next morning every time my daughter would walk, the cut would start bleeding again and shed cry because of the pain. With the continued bleeding and the open wound, there was no way that we could do the water parks which we'd been saving for or last days. My children were extremely upset, but tried to be understanding. Not only did we have to alter our plans but my daughter was in pain every time she took a step, how was she going to get around the parks? The kids did not want to go home early. after looking forward to this trip for so long, and making sacrifices go be able to get there, I just couldnt do that to them. The only other options were to buy a pair of crutches or rent a wheelchair. I could not imagine putting my daughter through the pain of walking with crutches for 3 days and many miles all around Disney, not at only 10 years old and never using crutches in her life, so there was only one feasible choice. Each day at the parks, I rented a wheelchair for my daughter. She was still hurt and would have to do a little bit of walking on her own but this was the only way to try to salvage the vacation for the kids. During our 3 remaining days, I pushed my daughter (120 lbs) in her wheelchair all over MK, Hollywood Studios, and AK. Wheel chair rental was $12 each day which seemed well worth the price at the time..

When we got back to our room that first day after she was injured, I was expecting to find some sort of message from the manager since she had never tried call reach me on my cell phone, but there was nothing. It was late when we got back and when I called the front desk I was told that shed left for the day. So the next morning before we went to the park I went to the lobby and asked to speak with her. I told her what happened and she told me the she'd been off yesterday and still hadn't read the report. I waited for about 20mins while she found it and read it. I explained that I had to rent a wheelchair and informed her that I thought they should reimburse me at least for that. I also told her that we'd been unable to go to the watermarks for fear of infection, pain, etc. I gave her the receipts, she said she'd send it to their insurance company, because they handle any problems and told me that they'd definitely contact me within 48 hours. I informed her that I wasn't very happy about this, that it'd certainly impacted our vacation, that my daughter was hurt, I was out money, and my back was killing me from pushing her around.

At this point alone, any decent company would have adjusted my bill at LEAST for the wheel chair rental, but they didnt even offer. It really seemed that she could not have cared less. On the 29th we packed up the car, headed to the parks for one last day said goodbye to Disney World, good riddance to Champions World Resort and headed home.

My daughters foot was still in pain but she was able to go to school and sit most of the time until her gash was able to heal. She was forced to sit out of P.E. at school for about 2 weeks until her toe had healed enough so that it would stop reopening. I kept it clean and bandaged and thankfully she has no problems with infection, but she does still have a small scar.

The morning after we got home, I woke up and could hardly move. I aggravated my back more than I would have ever thought possible. I was in tears. For days I tried pain patches on my back, took pain relievers and tried to take it as easy as possible to relieve the pain. Not only was I having back pain but the pain started radiating down my legs and I could hardly walk, it hurt to sit, stand, drive or do anything. I had to turn down days from work because I was in incredible pain, it got to the point where I realized I needed to see a Chiropractor or someone for my back because nothing I had done was helping and I wasnt able to work or take care of my kids in my condition. I was finally able to see the Chiropractor on 4/10/12. After examining my x-rays shes taken she said that she could definitely see where there was swelling in my back, and spinal column and irritation to my sciatic nerve due to the pressure and stress on my back, caused from pushing my daughter in her wheelchair. Even after adjustment from the Chiropractor, I didnt feel better. I was icing my back, trying to rest it, using pain relieving gels, etc, but even doing simples tasks hurt. Driving my children to and from school would bring me to tears. After my second visit to the Chiropractor, she referred me to a general physician because there was so much swelling in my leg and ankle because of the pressure in my back. When I went to the Doctor, she sent me for more X-rays and blood work to see if something other than the back injury could be causing the swelling (it was that severe). She also prescribed me pain medications and advised me to not see the chiropractor until she was the results of the X-rays, since it didnt seem to be helping and I didnt have insurance, it didnt seem like it was worth it. Once the Doctor had the X-rays and lab results she said that there wasnt anything other than the back injury that she could attribute the swelling to. She then ordered an MRI to determine the extent of the back injury.
I had the MRI at a Diagnostic Clinic and again just waited for results and continued to be in pain and take pain medication when I just couldnt take it anymore. During this time I was unable to work. A temporary full time position at the school had become available and I has been asked to fill it, but because of doctors appointments and the pain I was experiencing, I had to turn it down. I dont have any insurance, so all of these expenses were coming out of my pocket. My only income is from my teaching jobs, so we were having a really hard time throughout all of this.

The MRI results came back and showed swelling, and other injuries. The doctor referred me to a back surgeon. I got these results on 05/21/12. By that time, through the use of medication, ice packs, pain gel and pressure relieving techniques at home, I was feeling better (though not back to normal). The swelling in my back had gone down quite a bit, the swelling in my ankle and the pain in my legs disappeared and most of my mobility is back. Being the sole care giver and provider for 3 children, it just doesnt make sense to seek any more treatment. I certainly cant afford it, not with all the expense I have suffered because of this incident.

If my daughter had not been injured due to the negligence of Champions World Resort, then none of this would have happened. If I hadnt had to rent a wheelchair for my daughter, I never would have had the trauma to my back. I have over $6000.00 in medical bills and expenses that I have paid or am responsible for. That does not include anything for my lost wages or any sort of compensation for myself or my daughter for pain.

I called Champions World Resort numerous times, beginning 04/03/12 for their insurance company information because no one from there was contacting me. The same manager I had spoken with while we were still at the resort kept telling me she would resend them my information but she wouldnt give me their information.

Finally, after starting to leave messages for the General Manager at Champions, I eventually got a phone call from Music, Ins. (the insurance company for Champions). I explained to the adjuster what had happened, and later got a phone call from a case investigator at another company. I gave them all of the information they needed, everything they had asked for and was told by the investigator that he was sending all of the information back to the insurance company at the beginning of June, and that I should expect a call within two weeks. At the beginning of July I still had not been contacted. I send emails, left messages and tried to contact the adjuster. Finally on July 9, I was able to find out that the adjuster I had been working with was no longer there and I got the name of the new adjuster. I went over everything again with her, gave her all of the information she needed, faxed her bills, medical reports and everything else. Only July 11 she mailed me a reimbursement of $91.80 for the wheelchair rental and for my medications because she said she had those receipts right there and at least that would get me some money back while she reviewed all of the other receipts, etc.

On July 13 she called me and told me she needed some additional receipts, each and every time she asked for something, I sent it, she continued to lead me to believe that the bills she could immediately connect to my back would be repaid. I have had nothing to hide through all of this. I believe I have been more than patient. I have has to chase the adjuster and call numerous times to try to get this resolved. Finally yesterday, August 2, I was able to reach the adjuster. She said I didnt have a claim for myself. How do they suddenly feel they have no obligation to reimburse my medical bills? They had already reimbursed for MY medication on the 11th. Suddenly when they see that these medical bills are all legitimate, they feel like they dont want to pay them? So I should now be held responsible for this, on top of all the pain I have already suffered through? They werent going to pay me anything for my injury because it was my daughter who was hurt at their insureds property, not myself. She didnt care that my injuries were a consequence of my daughter being injured. She actually had the gall to tell me that I should have simply gone home after her injury. I am so furious about this. I should not be out all of this money which I cannot afford! I did NOTHING wrong, my daughter and myself were the victims in this: Champions World Resort (owned by Ringhaver Funding, LLC.) and Music Insurance Co. have been, and continue to be derelict and indifferent to the expense and hardship that my family has suffered. I am sincerely asking for any help which you can offer.

Kelly - Florida