May 15, 2007
On February 8, 2005, at approximately 4:00 p.m., on Broad Street in Matawan, the plaintiff parked at the mall and walked toward a mailbox, intending to mail an RSVP to a wedding and to pick up some chicken she had ordered from a restaurant located in the mall. As she approached the mailbox, her foot struck a portion of the sidewalk that was raised approximately 1 1/2 inches above the adjoining sidewalk section. Her fall slammed her to the pavement. She smashed her right knee and struck her face on the concrete. In attempting to break her fall, the plaintiff extended both of her hands, causing a fracture in her left wrist. The police responded to the scene and rushed her by ambulance to a local hospital.
Plaintiff required an open reduction and internal fixation of a comminuted right-patella fracture, with a repair of a ruptured right quadriceps tendon, plus removal of numerous resultant blood clots. Approximately 15 months after her injury, the plaintiff required removal of the painful hardware pins and wire from the right patella, with excision of the bursa and extensive debridement of right-knee bone spurs. Her examining orthopedic surgeon testified that she would likely require a total knee replacement within the next five years. Plaintiff also sustained a fracture of the triquestral bones of the left wrist, which did not require surgery and healed uneventfully.
Plaintiff also had a short course of psychotherapy due to depression, mood disorder and panic attacks resulting from her chronic pain and significant physical limitations, and was prescribed effexor and diazepam for depression. Plaintiff continues to use a four-prong cane for assistance in walking due to a significant gait disturbance and arthritis that developed in the knee.
At the time of her accident, the plaintiff was receiving total disability benefits from Social Security for past bilateral total hip replacements secondary to avascular necrosis related to scleroderma. She also had a prior surgical repair of an ankle fracture 10 years earlier.
The case settled shortly before trial following mediation with a retired Superior Court Judge.
