About a month ago, our local Walmart underwent a major refurbishment, and everyone was waiting impatiently for it to reopen. Well, the day came, the store was twice as big as the old one, and quite well organized.
I had to pick up a few essentials, so I spent time going up and down all the aisles.
The Moment Everything Went Wrong
Suddenly, my cart hit something hard, and I lost my breath. I had tripped over a hard plastic packing crate in the middle of the aisle.
There was actually a stack of these crates that was tall, and I saw that, but I did not see the lone crate on the ground, and I fell into it—a big crate with sharp metal clips.
I was in shock, embarrassed, and shaky, but a kind woman and a man helped me up. I told them I was okay and made my way to the checkout, still feeling embarrassed, but now also nauseous. My left hand and leg were both sore.
Someone brought me a chair and was bringing over their medical person to speak with me.
I felt weak and vulnerable. I hadn’t brought my phone, so I couldn’t even call my husband, but I just wanted to go home.
The First Aid person came over, he looked me over, and I told him where I hurt, that the fall had jarred my back, which triggered an existing back issue, and my ring finger was swollen, and I couldn’t bend it. He examined the wound on my leg and finger, decided the finger was not broken, and then went off to watch the CCTV footage of the fall.
When he came back, I felt much better.
He said my color was better and he felt I did not need any further medical assistance, and I agreed (he did offer to call an ambulance). He asked me for my name and details. There was no report for me to sign, so I told him I had only a couple of blocks to go home. I thanked him and left.
Over the next three days, I was icing my swollen leg and alternating between icing my finger.
I was sore/uncomfortable, and I couldn’t sleep with the pain of the gash and lump on my leg. I went to the ER, and I was banged up and had a lot of bruising on my knee and leg. There seemed to be a bit of infection, so I was put on low-grade antibiotics.
To this day, I still can’t fully bend my finger. My back is taking its time to heal, so this has laid me up. I couldn’t swim or exercise, and I feel stressed.
The Realization
Almost a month has passed since the incident, and no one from the store has called to check in or anything; they had my number. “That isn’t right!”, I thought.
A few of my family members and friends advised me to sue the store. I then spent the next couple of days researching Walmart slip-and-fall injuries, ideally to find a case similar to mine. When I did, I contacted a lawyer who specializes in these cases and told him my situation and my findings.
To my surprise, the lawyer said we might have a good case on our hands.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the lesson learned from all of this is that you should ALWAYS speak up for yourself, especially when hurt. And sure, you might feel embarrassed in that moment, but the embarrassment will pass, and you’ll be left having to deal with the nasty aftermath.
If you ever find yourself in a situation similar to mine, you need to document everything, ask for a report, and definitely call a lawyer.
Featured image via Caique Morais on Unsplash
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