And I don't mean dating. I mean actual, lawyer judge and jury courtin'. Back in August my family and I had picked up my grandmother from her home and took her with us to a local bowling alley. She doesn't bowl much anymore (poor ol' girl's going to be 73 next Jan.) but she loves watching the rest of us and just being with the family. Plus, it was just two weeks before I would be moving back to college to start my senior year. When we got there it was about 10:30 in the morning, and the sun was right behind the alley so the whole building cast a shadow on the parking lot. This is important later. She's got a handicap placard, so we pull into a handicap space closest to the steps. There was another set of handi spaces on the other side of the lot near a wheelchair ramp, but they were all filled. My grandmother prefers using the ramps so she walk at her own pace (which is better for her anyway, she carries one of those portable oxygen tanks on her all the time due to her emphysema), but when she saw how far away it was she decided to be a trooper and use the stairs. She knew she'd be winded halfway over to the ramp anyway. There was a railing for her to grab onto, but it was on the next step up from the ground level and was almost up against the next stair up from that. And remember that shadow I was talking about? It covered the whole staircase, and there was none of that yellow caution paint on the stair edges that are usually there. So even from a distance it was tough to see where one step started and another ended. It all looked like one big step. Well, my grandmother starts reaching for the railing, but doesn't see the step because of the reasons I just mentioned, and down she goes. We rush to help her up, and see that the next step up that she fell onto also has this six-inch long crack in it that goes all the way to the edge, so we figure she's caught her toe in it. We sit her up and help her calm down because she's visibly shaken, and start trying to clean her up because she's bleeding from both knees (she's been nicknamed Ol' Faithful because even the smallest cut gushes now. It's scary). A clerk inside the alley comes out with a bag of ice for her, and said she saw her fall and wanted to make sure she was okay. She helps us take her inside and get her settled in a chair with the ice and we start cleaning her up. The clerk also gets an incident report - standard procedure for incidents- and my mother starts filling it out. While she's doing this the clerk mentions my grandmother was the second person to fall that day. The place had only been open for a half hour. It makes me wonder how many have fallen before that. We try to carry on with a round of bowling, and she's watching us and taking her mind off her fall, and the clerk comes over every so often to check on her. Just then, my grandmother complains that her left arm is bugging her. My mother doesn't like how this sounds and calls up the ER so they can take a look at my grandmother. An hour later my mother and I are in the waiting room of the ER and my grandmother's getting X-rayed. My father came and took my brother home. When we see the doctor in one of the exam rooms, he tells her she's broken her arm at the elbow as a result of the fall -a radial fracture, he called it. He put her arm in a sling and only three weeks ago did the thing finally come off. Her left arm is her dominant arm, so life's been hellish for her. And she's hopping mad at the bowling alley. After we took her to the ER and found out what happened, we called the alley and told them her diagnosis so they could mark it on their incident report. They did and told us someone would be calling her soon to get a statement from her and check up on her. They never did. And just to humor ourselves my mother and I took a drive out to the bowling alley to see if they did anything to fix the stairs, and there was nothing. No paint, no signs, nothing. It's like they've just forgotten the whole thing. My grandmother sure hasn't, and now she wants to sue them. She's gotten a lawyer and everything. I just finished typing up a statement for him because I won't get a chance to actually speak to him because of my school schedule. I'm still waiting for more details on my end here, like if I'm actually going to have to go to court or anything, but the whole thing is making me nervous. I hate having to deal with stuff like this. Last time I did anything of the sort was when I appealed a surcharge on my insurance record after an accident that was not my fault, and that was two years ago. Only other court experience I have is a morning of jury duty, where I just sat in a tiny room for four hours and never actually sat in on a case. Like I needed any more stress right now. I know this really doesn't affect me directly, but it does in a way because I'm involved as a witness to the incident and my grandmother keeps talking about it and asking me for help (which I have no clue how to help). Thanks for letting me rant...phew.
Wow. To say the very least, that is rough. Hang in there, man. I realize these are some difficult times, and my saying the obvious really won't help you that much, 'cause chances are, you already know them. Be that as it may, you've got our support.
Thanks, Darkcloud. Means a bunch. Would've replied sooner but Gran's lawyer wated to see me personally because he said things in my statement were "unclear". I couldn't see how; the statement was almost long enough to be a thesis. But whatever. An actual date still hasn't been set yet, since I'm guessing the guy wants to see how much evidence we can pool together to actually make a case against the bowling alley. With my luck, they'll decide on a date just as I get called for jury duty (I'm due for a calling soon) and I won't be able to do much.
There are times when people assume they can get free money by suing which puts a ton of lawsuits out there which are plainly idiotic. However, in the case with your grandmother, you should not worry about it and she's doing the right thing. There are quite a few places that are not as handicapped accessible as they should be, and there are accidents that happen because of it. These public places know better, to have steps repaired and such, because they can be harmful to -anyone-, not even just someone who is impaired. With someone who is elderly, the impact of falling can be very detrimental to their health, so your grandmother and family have every right to sue the place and expect them to cover medical costs and what that fall may have done to her. Also, to demand that repairs be made immediately. I hope things work out for your family and have confidence that they are doing the right thing here.
