Dr. Decapitated By Faulty Elevator At St Joseph Hospital

Houston Chronicle ^ | August 17, 2003 | Peggy O'Hare

[neb52]

Damn I guess I will be living and working at a one story buildings for now on. Thanks-a-lot. :D

[HairOfTheDog]

[[[[[SHUDDER]]]]]]

Man - what a tragedy.

[neb52]

Yeah the Baylor Houston Hospital got flooded up to the second floor. Don't remember if anybody got hurt or died though.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

I can't get on an elevator anymore. A long time ago, when I was working my way through college, I worked as a security guard in a large building. One evening, about 7:30, the elevator's regulator had an "issue." Seems it mistakenly thought that there were several floors below the first floor, and so it didn't stop... until it hit the bottom of the shaft. I had gotten on the thing on the 5th floor. The elevator guys who came in to look at the thing told me that the elevator was pretty much in the equivalent of free-fall from the 3rd floor down. I escaped with only minor injuries. The whole time I talked to the repairman, while we looked down at the canted elevator in the shaft, he kept telling me, "You should have broken both your legs, if not your back! It could have easily killed you!" I just can't handle the feeling of dropping everytime I get in one.

BTW, as a bit of trivia, did you know that many older elevators have a "buffer" in the bottom of the shaft to prevent anyone in the shaft from getting crushed by an elevator that comes down? In the one I was in, the buffer looked to be a large steel cylinder surrounded by concrete, about 12 inches in diameter and 5 feet in height. At least, that's what it looked like coming up out of the floor of the elevator...

[demkicker]

My company had several people working in the medical center during Alicia and said it was pretty hairy evacuating floors and moving patients who were on respirators to higher ground. They had to manually respirate them until getting them moved and hooked back up, thanks to the back up generator. They said it was a nightmare they'll never forget.

[RichInOC]

One of the nastiest things I've ever seen in a movie.

(Movie trivia: I didn't realize this until looking it up just now, but that was Meshach Taylor playing the doctor.)

[Servant of the Nine]

Nope Baylor always settles out of court so they don't have to change any policies. They just throw money at the person threatening to sue hoping the problem will go away. Baylor does this so the media doesn't find out and keep a good PR image.

Yeah, and their Basketball Coaches lie to the Police and the Press.

Seriously, this is a very old hospital on the edge of downtown Houston, far from the Houston Medical Center. It is not a place there has been any reason but ignorance to be admitted to for the past 40 years.

SO9

[demkicker]

Thanks for sharing your elevator survival story. I sure felt sorry for all the folks stuck in elevators during the blackout. Heard on Fox News that NY City alone had 800 elevator rescues! My closterphobic daughter cringed just thinking about it.

[Servant of the Nine]

I haven't ridden on an elevator in 7 years. I always take the stairs because of shit like this. Terrible.

Don't do much business above the 30th floor do you?

So9

[Saundra Duffy]

Rest In Peace and may the Good Lord bless and comfort the family. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

[Lazamataz]

This is a HUGE lawsuit in the making. And how come elevator door motors are strong enough to decapitate???

[neb52]

Sounds like they need a surprise visit from JACHO to catch them at their worst. They must make things look good when JACHO comes for their annual visit to make sure everthing is up to snuff. Somebody that works at that hospital needs to file a complant with JACHO, otherwise nobody will really know how bad things are there.

[Servant of the Nine]

how come elevator door motors are strong enough to decapitate???

They aren't, but the lift motors are and when the elevator went up, he was sliced.

SO9

[Shooter 2.5]

"Resident Evil" rocks.

There are very few movies I like to watch once, let alone three times.

I heard they're going to make a sequel.

[RandallFlagg]

"Resident Evil" rocks. There are very few movies I like to watch once, let alone three times. I heard they're going to make a sequel.

They are. However Mr. Anderson won't be directing it. He's begining the role of Director for the movie, "Aliens Versus Predator," in October.

[ErnBatavia]

I worked at a place where this happened to a maintenance man a long time ago. It was my misfortune to have an office facing the freight elevator doors on the floor below.

Exact ditto here in the food warehouse district of Los Angeles. One of the nicest drivers I knew got his head lopped exactly this way.

[joesnuffy]

What a loss ... And what pain...and trauma for the woman trapped in the elevator helpless to do a thing The shock to everyone involved and the victims family And the loss of a fine aspiring physician and missionary

He became a devout Christian while in medical school, his father said. He became a youth group leader and decided to become a missionary doctor.

He is with Jesus now...the highest greatest good thing that can ever happen to a human.. God Bless his family friends and co workers and give them peace and heal the trauma of the witness to this terrible thing...

[LSAggie]

Regarding your comment about people just wanting money and not caring about policy changes--that may not be entirely correct, depends on state law.

When my husband was seriously injured in an accident, I hit the "net" to find out all I could about the company at fault. I was horrified by their safety record and wanted it all on the record. Our attorney told us, and it has been confirmed by other attorneys that in Missouri, once a company admits liability, all information regarding their safety record, number of persons killed or injured by their negligence, etc. is moot and cannot be used at trial. The purpose is to take the "emotion" out of the case, and just put $$ to the damages.

Additionally, the h-ll the plantiffs are put through by the defendant's lawyers is incredible, but that's rather off-topic, so I'll save it for another thread.