From Hit-And-Run Survivor To A Second Life: The Immigrant Who Woke Up To $333K In Hospital Bills | Meeting With Americans with Valerie Pableo

Valerie Pableo is a Filipino-American nursing student, creative, and hit-and-run survivor who came to the United States as an immigrant child. On Meeting With Americans, she opens up about the DNA test that changed her identity, the car accident that nearly killed her, and the $333,000 hospital bill that followed. We talk about: ▪️Growing up as an immigrant child in America and feeling the pressure to make that opportunity count ▪️Finding out through a DNA test that her father wasn't her biological dad ▪️Being hit by a car in Atlanta and nearly losing her life ▪️Waking up to $333,000 in hospital bills without insurance ▪️Her boyfriend cheating while she was still recovering ▪️The message she has for anyone going through the hardest moment of their life   00:00 Intro 02:20 Growing Up Between Two Worlds 04:17 The DNA Test That Changed Her Identity 08:17 "He Was Afraid I'd Leave Him" 10:36 Chasing The American Dream 12:17 Meeting Her Real Family For The First Time 15:15 "Do I Even Belong Here?" 19:16 The Pressure To Make It In America 21:52 Leaving Everything Behind At 19 25:10 Choosing Stability Over Dreams 26:27 "This Was My Most Vulnerable Moment" 26:56 Hit By A Car — And Left To Die 29:12 Waking Up With No Insurance 30:40 "I Knew It Was A Bad Idea" 33:15 The Decision She Regrets Most 34:42 He Cheated While She Couldn't Walk 36:17 Strangers Who Helped Save Her Life 40:02 Watching Her Own Near-Death Moment 43:15 $333K In Hospital Bills — And No Answers 47:14 "I Was Given A Second Life" 59:34 What's Broken In America 01:12:14 "It's Not Always Going To Be Like This"