Grand Canyon Fall

[Anchor Lead]

A 25-year-old Korean man who fell from a cliff in Grand Canyon late last year, remains in a coma at an American hospital. The hospital administration is pressuring his family to transport him back to Korea, but they have to first deal with astronomical hospital bills and a legal dispute with the travel agency.

[Pkg]

A young man is seen falling off a cliff in the Grand Canyon. People around him scream in horror. A 25-year-old Korean student, surnamed Park, studying in Canada was at the American national park to sightsee just one day before he was due to return to Korea. A helicopter rescued and transported him to a nearby hospital, where he underwent several surgeries, but he is still in a coma. His family, who flew to America to be by his side, does not want him transported back to Korea at the moment. But the hospital is pressuring them to take him back home, as his astronomical medical bills began to pile up after three weeks of hospital care. However, his family can hardly afford to pay for his transport back to Korea.

[Soundbite] Park So-eun(Park’s sister) : "The hospital bill is about USD 1 mn and transport fee another USD 200,000."

To make matters worse, the family is engaged in a legal dispute with the travel agency over liability. They are contending over whether he went off alone to a restricted area to take photos. As his tragic story became public, a fundraising event was held at his alma mater in Busan. His story was also posted on the Cheong Wa Dae petition board and so far more than 14,000 people have signed up to help him.