My parents used my sister's college fund for medical bills, and I defended them, AITA?

My parents used my sister's college fund to pay for her medical bills. Now she's mad that I'm defending their choice.

Distinct_Cattle1721 writes:

I(17f) am a freshman in college, as is my sister Leah(18f). Our parents weren’t the best off growing up, but they always set aside money for us to go to college.

Leah played soccer, and before her freshman year of high school our parents sat her down and told her that if she played, she needed to be careful because if she got hurt all the money to pay for it would come out of her college fund.

Several schools in the league our high school is in are pretty good with a reputation for playing rough, and she isn’t the biggest person, so she knew there were risks involved.

In our sophomore year she had a pretty bad non contact injury that ended up needing surgery and several months of physical therapy. All this money came out of what would be contributed to her fund, and I don’t know an exact number but all the appointments and stuff were at least several thousand.

Now we’re both going to similarly priced schools, and she will need more loans than I do. In a group chat we’re both in I made a joke about how expensive college is and she responded “now imagine paying thousands more because your parents don’t want to pay for your medical bills”.

I privately messaged her and told her I didn’t think she should be sharing personal stuff like that and that she knew the risks of soccer and chose to play anyway. She said that she was free to share something that really upset her and that I needed to stick up for her against our parents(she’s argued about this many times).

She said that they paid for my medical bills so they should for hers and that I was a “sh%tty sister” and is asking for me to tell our parents they should’ve paid.

I don’t think I should have to, they clearly outlined what they would and wouldn’t pay for and the risks she chose to take aren’t my problem. AITA here?

Here are some of the top comments from the post:

Internal_Progress404 says:

YTA (You're the A%#hole). Regardless of who is right about the medical bills (and I agree with your sister, for the record) you have no right to tell her not to talk about it.

Also, if you think it's right that your parents didn't pay her medical bills, there's no reason to be ashamed of her sharing it; if she shouldn't tell people, you know it's wrong.

bookworm271 says:

YTA (You're the A$%hole). Playing a sport in high school is incredibly common and telling a 14 year old that if she accidentally gets hurt playing said sport they're cutting her college find is ridiculous. Especially if the rules don't apply to both kids.

Away_Refuse8493 says:

YTA. OF COURSE, YTA. AND YOUR PARENTS... WELL, THEY ARE TA A MILLION TIMES. It is TERRIBLE parenting to pull a stunt like this. Not "reasonable" because your sister "knew the risks of playing soccer."

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Parents are responsible for ensuring their children receive medical treatment. There are very few things parents need to do for their children - and a sophomore in high school is a child - but ensuring they have medical treatment is one of them. Your parents didn't meet that standard.

Having kids carries risks. You could have had cancer. And then what? Boo hoo? You knew the risks of being a person, and some people get cancer. You are victim-blaming in a HORRID way.

This should have nothing to do with college funds, but somehow your parents made it about college funds, so that's them being TA, though.

Yeah, your sister has a right to complain to all your friends because it's awful what they did to her. FYI, being involved in activities (especially larger activities like sports) is good for college applications and good for your health compared to sitting on your butt and watching TikToks or whatever.

Yes, there are risks, but there are also rewards to those activities, and that's what most reasonable people see when their kids sign up for sports.

What do you think? Should OP stick up for her sister, or was she right to defend her parents?