New Jersey Family Sues After Boy’s Toes Amputated in Escalator Accident

A New Jersey family whose son got his foot stuck in a mall escalator and had to have his toes amputated has filed a lawsuit against the mall and the company that made the escalator.

Celestino Rivas and Maria Jimenez, of Trenton, said in the suit filed last month that their then-7-year-old son was left disabled and disfigured by the Dec. 14, 2014 accident at the Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

The Simon Property Group owns the mall and declined to comment. The Schindler Corp. made the escalator and didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

NJ.com reported that the boy’s right foot was dragged into a gap between the step he was standing on and the edge of the escalator, according to the suit. The escalator continued moving down, trapping his foot.

The suit said someone in the mall was able to push the emergency stop button for the escalator, and Jimenez tried unsuccessfully to pull her son’s foot out of the machine.

The boy’s mother, father and aunt watched as fire and medical crews worked for about 20 to 30 minutes to free his foot, the suit said. The boy was rushed to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where doctors amputated his right toes and continued to operate on his foot and leg over the course of the next month.

The family’s attorney, Craig Hubert, said the family was traumatized by the incident and faced sizable medical bills after multiple hospital visits.

The suit said the corporation and the mall were both negligent in maintaining and repairing their escalator and in supervising upkeep of the machine.