A man who needs 24-hour care due to a catastrophic brain injury has been sent a debt collector’s letter 15 months after he was rushed to hospital following a one-punch attack.
Danny Hodgson was on the way home from his Perth football team’s end-of-season celebration in September 2021 when he was approached by a stranger and punched to the ground.
Prosecutors said what happened to Hodgson was “as bad as it gets without dying”.
His mum Nicola said a bystander called the ambulance but her son has been left with the bill.
The soccer player received a letter for $1006 this week on the same day the payment was due.
His mother told Perth radio station 6PR her son “shouldn’t be getting bills like this” as he is a victim of crime.
“It was an unprovoked attack,” she said.
“Danny doesn’t get any support from the state, he doesn’t get any money, he needs 24-hour care and his father has had to stay in Perth which has broken the family up.
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“You get this bill and you think, ‘What else can happen?'”
Hodgson shared the notice online, which said he must pay the fine in full by the due date to avoid potential “further action”.
”(I’m) unable to work and unable to receive any disability or money while I try my best to recover,” he said.
“Where do they think I’m pulling the money from?”
St John Ambulance Western Australia has been contacted for comment.
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