Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison hits back at son starting GoFundMe for $100,000 medical bills
Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison has disputed claims made by his son Corey after a GoFundMe was set up after he paid $100,000 in medical bills.
The 42-year-old suffered a horror motorbike accident in Tulum, Mexico back in January that left him with life-threatening injuries including 11 fractured ribs, a concussion, punctured lung, and internal bleeding.
While he was ultimately able to return home after multiple surgeries, the health scare reportedly took a huge financial toll, with Corey even suggesting to his friends that he expected to die because of inability to pay his eye-watering medical bills.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up by his friend Aron Chambers, which provides more details about what happened in hospital following the crash.
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It states that, after two weeks in the Playa del Carmen hospital, 'the financial pressure became too much, and Corey had no choice but to check himself out against medical advice'.
He then experienced 'excruciating pain' and saw his oxygen levels plummet to 'dangerously low levels' before his friends drove him to another more affordable hospital not too far away.
Chambers continued: “In a heartbreaking moment that shook all of us to our core, Corey looked at us and said, ‘I’m just going to die out here. I don't have the money to keep paying these people'.”
He would end up spending another 18 days in the new hospital before being allowed to leave, and is now on the mend, but the fundraising page suggests that he was left with just $400 in his bank account.
It initially set a goal of $100k before being lowered to $18k and has since raised just over $11k, but his father Rick has now disputed claims that the fundraiser was even necessary.
The owner of the family pawn shop in Las Vegas spoke to TMZ to suggest that he had covered his son's medical bills.
He said: “As far as I know, I paid all of Corey's medical bills long before he put the GoFundMe out.
He also suggested that there is no 'repayment schedule in place" for his son to make good on the personal loan.
“He is a grown man in his 40s and is responsible for how he handles his finances."
However, this seemingly came as a surprise to Corey, who suggested that while he loves his father dearly, he's always been made to work hard for his own money.
Corey told TMZ: "If he decided I don't have to pay him back the money, then happy birthday to me," retorted Corey, who turns 43 next month.
"But based on our personal and business relationship, I don't see how that's possible. I love my father very much, he's always been there for me, and I don't have a problem with him at all."
Topics: GoFundMe, Celebrity News
James Moorhouse