FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman who suffered brain damage when a crane in downtown Fort Lauderdale nearly crushed her is now seeking tens of millions of dollars.
Gemma Castillo was a passenger in a gray minivan when a crane crashed down onto the Southeast Third Avenue Bridge on April 4.
“A crane just fell down on top of a car on the bridge,” said 911 caller.
Her attorneys, Brett Rosen and Judd Rosen, spoke with 7News on Friday.
“She has not worked, right? She has blurred vision, she has the scars to her head,” said Brett.
Police said Jorge de la Torre, a construction worker, was killed, and several others were injured, including Castillo.
“She was knocked out, and when she came to, she had blood gushing down her face, and she was in the car alone, and she thought she was going to die,” said Brett.
In a video, an injured Castillo can be heard screaming as Mark Cerezin, the driver of a Tesla SUV that was behind the minivan, is seen helping her.
“There was a lady that was bleeding, and I took off my shirt and put compression and helped her,” said Cerezin.
Castillo was taken to the hospital. According to her attorneys, the mother of four and teacher was diagnosed with organic brain damage.
“It is affecting her ability to operate, to live, it’s affecting her vision, her awareness,” said Brett. “She has significant psychological damage from being involved in such a tragic and preventable incident.”
A lawsuit has also been filed on Gemma’s behalf, citing negligence.
“We know that cranes should not collapse, and unfortunately, it did,” said Brett.
Gemma’s attorneys claim there were many problems with this development, and lawsuits have already been filed.
“The developer wanted to pay less, the [general contractor] wanted more, and the only person, the only thing that was sacrificed was safety,” said Judd.
Now her attorneys are asking for more than $50 million.
“This incident has caused a ripple effect in her life that will change her forever,” said Brett.
With multiple lawsuits being filed, the Rosens said, there has been a lot of infighting between the developer and the general contractor, and there have been safety issues from the beginning of this development.
The attorneys state there have been many OSHA complaints against the developer, and safety violations. They hope with this new lawsuit more information will come out in court.
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