The Worcester Warriors have rejected New Zealand rugby player Michael Fatialofa’s claim that the English club are yet to pay his hospital bills for a severe spinal injury.
Fatialofa, 28, suffered a bad neck injury in a game in January 2020 and spent months in hospital, including a stay at a specialist rehabilitation unit in Buckinghamshire.
The former Hurricanes lock has posted on social media that “hopefully the Worcester Warriors will pay my hospital bill this year’’.
But the Warriors have issued a statement saying they were “disappointed’’ by Fatialofa’s comment and have insisted neither they nor the New Zealander should have to pay anything more.
"We are disappointed and surprised to read Michael’s comment on social media about outstanding hospital fees as we have heard nothing from him since he returned from New Zealand before Christmas. We will always be here to support him and are just a phone call away,’’ the Worcester statement said.
"We are all also concerned that the hospital where he was treated still seem to be contacting Michael about unpaid fees because we are also waiting on a response to our last communication with them.
"The club has already paid the fees it was responsible for, neither the club nor Michael are responsible for any additional fees.
"We invited the hospital to follow the correct procedure and claim the fees from the Clinical Commissioning Group, with our full support and thanks for the care shown to Michael. We have heard nothing back from the hospital or the CCG.
"HCR Law, our club lawyers, are on standby to protect Michael if the hospital try to claim the fees from either of us."
"We invited the hospital to follow the correct procedure and claim the fees from the Clinical Commissioning Group, with our full support and thanks for the care shown to Michael. We have heard nothing back from the hospital or the CCG.
"HCR Law, our club lawyers, are on standby to protect Michael if the hospital try to claim the fees from either of us."