How much would you risk to help someone?

Would you help someone if you knew it would cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs?

When an ABC News reporter asked that question, Nigel Haskett of Little Rock, Ark., didn’t need much time to think about it.

“I ask myself that question, many, many, many times over. Uh, yes sir I would. I just felt like that’s the right thing to do … even if it would have killed me.”

And it almost did kill the McDonald’s employee when he intervened to get a customer to stop assaulting a woman. He was shot in the chest for his trouble, he’s spent $300,000 on surgeries so far, he can’t afford to see a doctor, and a bullet remains lodged near his spine. He’s been told he should never lift heavy objects again.

But that’s not the story. The story is the McDonald’s insurance carrier is refusing to pay the Worker’s Compensation claim because stopping a guy from beating up a woman wasn’t part of his regular duties.

Legal experts say the insurance company is on solid legal ground.