| (Atlanta Black Star Capture) © News1 |
A South Carolina woman has been awarded $10 million in compensation for having her leg amputated when she stepped on a rusty nail while visiting a Walmart store six years ago.
April Jones, who lives in Florence County, released a press release through her attorney on the 6th (local time), saying, “The jury knows that if you open the door to Florence County and injure one of us, you have to take care of that person. “We wanted to make it clear to Wal-Mart, we’ll be forever grateful.”
An April representative pointed out, “What was weaker than anything else Wal-Mart was that it failed to demonstrate with a video that its employees faithfully follow the company’s policy of regularly inspecting safety devices. They did not present any evidence during the five-day trial.”
The accident occurred on June 26, 2015, when Jones stepped on a wooden pallet while shopping at a local Walmart store.
At that time, there was the sound of something tearing under the sandal, and a nail pierced through the sandal.
Feeling excruciating pain, she claimed to have caused the disease by stepping on a rusty nail, but did not reveal the exact type of the disease, which made the lawsuit difficult.
April had to undergo three amputations in the accident. First, the second toenail of the right foot was cut off, and the second had three more toenails removed.
About eight months after the first injury, her feet were all black. In the end, I had to cut it up to my ankle.
Walmart’s defense attorneys argued in a defense of the incident, saying, “The mere existence of wooden pallets on the floor of a store does not constitute circumstantial evidence that Walmart had left a nail on the floor.”
However, the jury finally ruled in favor of April last week, and she was awarded a total of $10 million (about 11.8 billion won) from Walmart.
Her lawyer said the money would be used to purchase a prosthetic leg, to make the house more handicapped-friendly, and to pay for medical expenses.
Walmart spokeswoman Randy Hargrave issued a statement on the 28th of last month refuting the verdict.
“Walmart is working hard to ensure the safety of customers shopping in our stores. We appreciate the service of the jury,” he said. I don’t believe it. We have filed a complaint with the court about what to do after the trial.”
sy153@news1.kr
