Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois
Fall resulting in injury in fire exit during evacuation
On 12-31-2008 at around 10:30PM, my wife and I staying at a friends Condo, located in Chicago, IL. We noticed several emergency vehicles approaching the area. We thought it must be medical related, but they just kept coming. We started hearing a lot of noise, and I thought I heard a PA speaker. I opened our door and I could hear a faint fire alarm coming from somewhere above. (We decided to promptly leave the building, and when we opened the fire escape there was smoke and a lot of water coming down the stairs. A manager was yelling at us to get the hell out, and we started down the stairs. At the first flight of stairs, my wife fell and hit her hip. It was severely bruised, and upon inspection, (In the opinion of someone in pre-medical education) nearly broken. Today the bruising is moving down, and has taken on much more color. We have pictures of right after and of on 1/1/2009. The condos have nothing to prevent falls on the stairs other than the stair rails. We noticed where there used to be some strips down on the stairs, but those we all but gone or damaged. Not sure if this is a case as nothing permanently damaging has happened yet, but a clot could easily form from this, and the pain and suffering, trauma from lackof alert
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Fall resulting in injury in fire exit during evacuation
You may have a case against the landlord, or the person who started the fire. It will take further investigation to know.
Re: Fall resulting in injury in fire exit during evacuation
The first thing that you need to do is get your wife some medical attention from a physician and to determine if there is something permanent. Hopefully, not.
There may be a cause of action against the condo association and/or the maintenance company. There may be a suit against whomever started the fire. However, the question then becomse whether he or she has insurance or has sufficient assets without insurance.
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