the best there is, the best there was, . . .?
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As he bounced off the ropes, Bret (The Hitman) Hart saw the kick coming. Even as he jerked his face away and raised his hand to block the hit, he couldn't stop the motorcycle boot from planting itself at the back of his head. He felt a sharp, sudden pain. This, Canada's most famous professional wrestler figured, is what it must feel like to get whacked with a hockey stick or kicked by a horse.
While much of pro wrestling is orchestrated, the 1999 kick that came out of the blue was the knockout punch for Mr. Hart's colourful career. It resulted in a debilitating concussion that would permanently keep him out of the so-called squared circle. He battled headaches, memory loss and mood swings, but the toughest wrestling match of his life was yet to come — the one with his insurance company. It has taken until now, five years after he filed his claim for $800,000 (U.S.) in disability benefits, for Mr. Hart to settle with the venerable Lloyd's of London and win that payment.
On Dec. 19, 1999, Mr. Goldberg took on Mr. Hart, who is four inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter, in that fateful match in Baltimore. After the boot to the head, Mr. Hart stumbled through the rest of the match and left the ring in a daze, holding the back of his neck. “I couldn't sleep. I had a headache. I thought if I could just get one good night's sleep, I'd be okay,” he said. “I was in no shape to be anywhere and I didn't know it.”
In January of 2000, a leading sports injury doctor and expert in concussions, Willem Meeuwisse, diagnosed him with a concussion. The muscle at the back of Mr. Hart's neck was torn. It had a hole the size of a quarter and deep enough for the doctor to stick his finger, one-knuckle deep. Mr. Hart said. It wasn't until July of 2000 that Mr. Hart realized — or at least finally admitted — that his wrestling career was over.
He had paid his annual $40,000 premium with Lloyd's, and believed now it was time to cash in on the disability benefits. He filed his claim in October of 2000. By March of 2004, there was still no movement on his insurance claim. He filed a lawsuit in the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench for more $1.2-million (Canadian) in unpaid disability benefits and another $1-million in punitive and aggravated damages for breach of duties. Three months later, Lloyd's filed its statement of defence, denying that Mr. Hart suffered a concussion in the match against Mr. Goldberg or in the few matches he competed in shortly thereafter. It said that Mr. Hart misrepresented his health in his application for insurance coverage with Lloyd's and denied that the firm had acted in bad faith in responding to his claim for benefits.
Brian Vail, Lloyd's Edmonton-based lawyer, said insurance claims involving injuries take more time to resolve than simple property-damage cases. Even more complex are cases of people who have medical records in more than one country. “I can absolutely guarantee you that every insurance company on the planet, in a liability case like this, they do not like a file to drag,” Mr. Vail said. “They do not like claims to be open long. They do not like them to take a long time. It's not in their interest to keep a claim open.”
Mr. Hart and his lawyer, Kenneth Staroszik, don't see it that way. “If you have a lot of integrity and you pay a huge premium and even though you have a really good case, don't bank on it,” Mr. Staroszik said. There was no celebration when the claim was formally settled out of court last month. For Mr. Hart, it was more a sense of relief. Now he's getting on with what he calls a more simple life. “There's life after wrestling,” he says, laughing. “You can't keep a good man down, but you can keep him out of the ring.”
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my secret confession is that i'm a wrestling junkie...
up until now, i haven't thought of owning up to it, until i found a way to tie it to the law (and no, not liveaudiowrestling.com)... the following article is about one man's "Hart-rending" battle to win disability benefits, but as was pointed out by an astute reader, imagine the kind of trouble the "average Joe" has in "wrestling" with the Workmen's Compensation Board or private insurance companies... most people simply do not have the financial ability to pay for good legal help and could never survive a 5-year legal "ironman match" like the Hitman...
As he bounced off the ropes, Bret (The Hitman) Hart saw the kick coming. Even as he jerked his face away and raised his hand to block the hit, he couldn't stop the motorcycle boot from planting itself at the back of his head. He felt a sharp, sudden pain. This, Canada's most famous professional wrestler figured, is what it must feel like to get whacked with a hockey stick or kicked by a horse.
While much of pro wrestling is orchestrated, the 1999 kick that came out of the blue was the knockout punch for Mr. Hart's colourful career. It resulted in a debilitating concussion that would permanently keep him out of the so-called squared circle. He battled headaches, memory loss and mood swings, but the toughest wrestling match of his life was yet to come — the one with his insurance company. It has taken until now, five years after he filed his claim for $800,000 (U.S.) in disability benefits, for Mr. Hart to settle with the venerable Lloyd's of London and win that payment.
On Dec. 19, 1999, Mr. Goldberg took on Mr. Hart, who is four inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter, in that fateful match in Baltimore. After the boot to the head, Mr. Hart stumbled through the rest of the match and left the ring in a daze, holding the back of his neck. “I couldn't sleep. I had a headache. I thought if I could just get one good night's sleep, I'd be okay,” he said. “I was in no shape to be anywhere and I didn't know it.”
In January of 2000, a leading sports injury doctor and expert in concussions, Willem Meeuwisse, diagnosed him with a concussion. The muscle at the back of Mr. Hart's neck was torn. It had a hole the size of a quarter and deep enough for the doctor to stick his finger, one-knuckle deep. Mr. Hart said. It wasn't until July of 2000 that Mr. Hart realized — or at least finally admitted — that his wrestling career was over.
He had paid his annual $40,000 premium with Lloyd's, and believed now it was time to cash in on the disability benefits. He filed his claim in October of 2000. By March of 2004, there was still no movement on his insurance claim. He filed a lawsuit in the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench for more $1.2-million (Canadian) in unpaid disability benefits and another $1-million in punitive and aggravated damages for breach of duties. Three months later, Lloyd's filed its statement of defence, denying that Mr. Hart suffered a concussion in the match against Mr. Goldberg or in the few matches he competed in shortly thereafter. It said that Mr. Hart misrepresented his health in his application for insurance coverage with Lloyd's and denied that the firm had acted in bad faith in responding to his claim for benefits.
Brian Vail, Lloyd's Edmonton-based lawyer, said insurance claims involving injuries take more time to resolve than simple property-damage cases. Even more complex are cases of people who have medical records in more than one country. “I can absolutely guarantee you that every insurance company on the planet, in a liability case like this, they do not like a file to drag,” Mr. Vail said. “They do not like claims to be open long. They do not like them to take a long time. It's not in their interest to keep a claim open.”
Mr. Hart and his lawyer, Kenneth Staroszik, don't see it that way. “If you have a lot of integrity and you pay a huge premium and even though you have a really good case, don't bank on it,” Mr. Staroszik said. There was no celebration when the claim was formally settled out of court last month. For Mr. Hart, it was more a sense of relief. Now he's getting on with what he calls a more simple life. “There's life after wrestling,” he says, laughing. “You can't keep a good man down, but you can keep him out of the ring.”
— DAWN WALTON, Globe and Mail (2005-11-05)
posted by þΛųL jØŋαŦhΛŋ @ 05:00
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