Motel forced to pay $2 million after man died from scalding 150-degree shower
Stefania Sarrubba
Featured Image Credit: Dignity Memorial / Getty Stock Image
The family of a 76-year-old Kentucky man were awarded over $2 million for his death after he suffered second- and third-degree burns from taking a 150-degree Fahrenheit shower in a motel.
According to court documents from the lawsuit, Alex Chronis checked into the Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, US, on November 18, 2021.
The next day, he turned on the shower and was immediately struck by extremely hot water. The pressure knocked him to the floor while the water continued to pour onto him and burn him.
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Chronis was removed from the tub by two people who were in the motel with him and had been alerted by his screams.
Following the accident, the man spent several months at the hospital, but sadly passed away on June 19, 2022.
As Chronis never married and didn’t have any children, his niece filed a lawsuit on his behalf.
Speaking with NBC News, the attorney for Chronis’ family, Jeffrey Blankenship, revealed the extent of his injuries.
“He had to go through skin grafting because he had deep-tissue second- and third-degree burns from the scalding temperature of the shower at the hotel,” Blankenship explained.
Expert witnesses’ testimonies shared that the water temperature in the shower was at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Photos taken by Chronis' nephew, who was at the motel with him at the time, showed severely damaged and discolored patches of skin all over Chronis' legs.
The final trial order, entered by the court on July 11, ordered the motel to pay damages to Chronis' estate. $1,271,486.60 is to be paid to cover medical expenses, $16,058.73 for funeral expenses, $250,000 for pain and suffering, and $500,000 for punitive damages.
The defense was given 30 days to file an appeal.
The defense claimed Chronis didn't even stay at the motel, said Blankenship. Attorneys for the defense declined to comment, citing the pending appeal.
In other, horrific motel stories, a woman who had been missing for seven years was found alive inside a Michigan motel after her screams led police to the scene.
The woman, whose identity remained undisclosed, was in her mid-thirties and was believed to be a sex trafficking victim. She was found in March this year at the Evergreen motel in Inkster, Michigan, a suburb located 32 km from Detroit. She first went missing in 2017.
The woman managed to contact her step-mother, explaining she was held against her will and was later rescued by state troopers.