For Corey Harrison, there is no negotiating the medical bills piling up from his motorcycle spill in Mexico.
The former “Pawn Stars” co-star has accumulated $130,000 in bills from the accident near his home in Tulum on Jan. 23. Harrison’s costs are being defrayed by a GoFundMe site, set up by his buddy and co-worker on “Pawn Stars,” Aron Chambers.
Established Monday, the site is attempting to raise $18,000. At this writing, $1,275 has been collected.
Harrison originally resisted a public fundraising campaign, but allowed the site as he has no health insurance. The 42-year-old, reality show fixture suffered 11 fractures to his ribs, shoulder compression fractures in his neck, cuts requiring 10 stitches in his hand and a concussion in the accident. “The list goes on and on,” he says.
Harrison spent nearly a month hospitalized, and had more than three liters of blood drained from his lungs.
He said in a chat a couple weeks ago he felt comparatively lucky, financially. “Thank God I’m not in the United States, because it would have probably cost me about $300,000.”
Harrison has made good money on “Pawn Stars,” the show he departed when he moved to Mexico in December 2024. But he emphasizes, he did not budget a six-figure medical outlay.
“I’ve had a lot of money, but it’s not like I could film right now. It’s not like I can really do any work.” says Harrison, who has paused his “Corey Harrison Show” podcast, which originates from Tulum. “It’s gonna take eight months to get better.”
Neither Harrison nor his hometown were affected by the outburst of violence after the shooting death of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” in late-February.
“This was not the Battle of Culiacán, OK?” Harrison said, referring to “Black Tuesday” in Mexico, the 2019 attempt to capture Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. “The guy was a big-ass drug lord, killed in the streets, and they went a little crazy in Jalisco. They blew up a Costco. But it takes a day to drive from Jalisco to Tulum, and they shut down all the highways leading into Tulum. Nobody got in.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.