PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

A New Jersey woman is suing Sandals Resorts International and Unique

Vacations Inc. over what started out as a minor leg laceration on a bus, but transformed into serious infection and sepsis.

Concetta Brodine and her husband, Keith Brodine, of Hackettstown, N.J., filed suit against the two defendants at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Oct. 18.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs arrived at the Turks & Caicos airport on Aug. 20 of last year for a couple’s getaway.

While aboard a transport van that was scheduled to take visitors to the Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort Villages & Spa, which is located on the island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, Concetta Brodine says she cut her left leg on a sharp piece of metal that was protruding from the bench seat in the transport van.

When the couple arrived at the resort, a nurse patched up Concetta’s leg, but the woman’s condition began to deteriorate during the following few days.

At first, the plaintiff experienced increasing pain, shivering, nausea and fever, but on Aug. 24 Concetta fainted and was taken to a nearby medical center where she was diagnosed as having sepsis due to a badly infected lower left leg.

The following day, after Concetta’s condition continued to deteriorate, the woman was airlifted to a hospital in Florida, and upon admission she was diagnosed with severe left leg infection, sepsis and foreign body reaction, the complaint states.

During her time at the Florida hospital, Concetta had to undergo a number of debridements of necrotic tissue from her wound.

The plaintiff was finally discharged from the hospital on Sept. 12, 2012, and underwent medical follow-up care near her New Jersey home, the suit states.

During the following weeks, Concetta continued to receive treatment, including, but not limited to, wound care and skin grafts, the complaint states.

And as a result of her weakened condition and altered gait, the woman subsequently sustained a hip fracture.

The two defendants in the case are accused of negligence and carelessness for permitting a dangerous condition to exist aboard the resort’s transport van, failing to inspect the van’s seat, failing to repair the defect, and failing to warn the plaintiff of the hazardous condition that existed in the vehicle.

In addition to her physical ordeal, Concetta claims she has suffered from mental anguish, a loss of the enjoyment of life, and a loss of the ability to attend to her daily activities, all as a result of the injuries she sustained during the beginning of her vacation.

Concetta seeks more than $75,000 in damages, plus interest and litigation costs.

Her husband, Keith, also seeks the same amount of damages for loss of consortium.

The couple is being represented by attorneys James E. Foerstner and Robert N. Hunn of the firm Kolsby, Gordon, Robin, Shore & Bezar.

 

The federal case number is 2:13-cv-06093-MSG.