Widow Sues Disney Cruise Line In Husbands Death
(News | Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Marilyn Piazza, of New York, is suing the Disney Cruse Line in federal court, blaming the cruise line for her husbands death. She claims her husband, Santo L. Piazza, died due to a poorly designed threshold and the ship’s medical staff misdiagnosed him. The Piazza’s were on a 11 day cruise out of Barcelona, Spain on the Disney Magic with their family. Santo tripped on the threshold as he stepped into the room’s bathroom. He fell and struck his right side on the bathroom. He later went to the medical staff on board and was given Tylenol. Later, he returned after he vomited and had shortness of breath and severe pain. The second examination found that he had fractured ribs and punctured his lung. The ship changed course and headed towards Cagliari, Sardinia. They then took him in an inflatable raft through eight miles of choppy waves to the shore. He died from his injuries 17 days later. Disney Cruise Lines would not comment on the suit.
The reference to the raft trip seems to imply something, but I’m not sure what. That the choice of a raft versus a medivac helicopter exacerbated the injuries and contributed to the fatality? That Disney employees went beyond the call to get this man to help? The threshold argument doesn’t to me, pardon the expression, hold much water. The misdiagnosis argument might: I should think that a doctor could discover a punctured lung easily by listening to the patient’s breathing.