Marsh Rickard & Bryan attorney Roger Lucas has filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of a 94-year-old Decatur woman who died after her wheelchair rolled downhill last year. Her body was found in a ditch by the employees of Country Cottage Assisted Living LLC where she was a resident.
The lawsuit alleges that an employee rolled the resident in her wheelchair out the facility as part of a planned fire drill. However, the employee left the resident unattended in a hazardous location. According to the lawsuit, an employee later came outside and found the resident and her wheelchair had gone down a slope and the resident was lying face down in water in a ditch at the bottom of the incline.
After three days in the hospital, the resident died from aspiration pneumonia.
The wrongful death lawsuit claims, among other things, the assisted living facility and its employees negligently failed to keep the resident from harm and provide her with a safe and secure environment.
Attorney Roger Lucas said, “What a tragic ending to a long and wonderful life. I want to help make this right for the family.”
