Help John Boozer after a life-changing fall and injury

My name is John Boozer. On September 21, 2022, I suffered a devastating and debilitating injury. My disabled mother and I had been out shopping. After picking up lunch to take home, we realized we needed dish detergent. As Dollar General is conveniently located around the corner from our duplex, I decided I would pop in.

Upon entering the store, I tripped on the large rubber mat at the front entrance. I fell forward and my left knee hit the concrete floor extremely hard. It was the single worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. My knee was forcibly driven upwards, shattering my left femur in three places. As I lay on the hard, cold floor on my right side, my left leg was bent backwards. I was unable to move it, and it felt as if it were barely attached.

An ambulance was called, and I was transported down the street to the emergency room at Advent Health. At the emergency room, I was in excruciating pain. The next several hours were a blur. There was more pain from manipulation of my leg for X-rays. Because I had not eaten since dinner the night before, it was decided that the surgery to repair my leg could proceed relatively quickly. The next morning, I awoke disoriented from the operation. My broken femur had a bulky apparatus called an external fixator. Eight pins (4 above and 4 below my knee) had been drilled into my left leg which was "fixed," immobilized with a long rod connected to the pins. At four points along my leg were stabilizers.

I was in Advent Hospital for 43 days. Those 43 days were filled with persistent pain, crushing despair, and dispiriting loneliness. I had never been in the hospital before. My dignity felt ripped away. Sadness overwhelmed me. Depression was my constant companion. I went to some very dark places. My physical condition was not much better. I could not lift my leg on my own. The fixator kept my leg stiff, and the metal knobs stuck out several inches, jabbing into things or getting caught on them. I could not sit in a wheelchair for more than a few minutes before the discomfort became unbearable. In addition, the pin sites oozed and bled, especially if I did physical therapy. A few short steps with a walker and there would be a pool of blood on the floor.

My mom was my only lifeline in the world. She would stay several hours at a time; however, it was difficult for her to navigate through the hospital as the trip quite fatigued her. As my mom is unable to drive, I had to Uber her to and from Advent Hospital. Although the distance is approximately a mile, the charge was about $25 a day. Added to the money worries were her fear for me and my future health, as well as the uncertainty about what the future would bring. It was tremendously stressful for both of us.

I was discharged from Advent Health to a rehab facility (really a nursing home) called Southern Pines in New Port Richey. I had never been to the town, which is over an hour away from Temple Terrace. I arrived wearing only an Advent Hospital gown. The decision to take me to Southern Pines was so chaotic that no plan was made. For the first three days I was there I had no clothes. Fortunately, my mom was able to get a ride with a friend and bring me some. I was there for almost three weeks and that was the only visit she could make.

My mental health deteriorated as the place was dreadful. There were days I did not eat; either the food was inedible, or they simply “forgot” to bring me any. They did very little physical therapy with me. I was in a room with four other people, one of whom was a nightmare. Although we had a bathroom in the room, he often relieved himself in the sink that faced the beds, which he did the one time my mom was able to visit me. He kept the television on full blast 24 hours a day. Constantly fighting the staff, he either screamed obscenities at them or loudly searched for disgusting scenarios on his smartphone. He even called the police on the nurses one night.

After dozens of calls and complaints from my mom, I was released and came home the day before Thanksgiving. It was joyous to be reunited. Mom fixed a wonderful meal. My spirits brightened and some of the darkness disappeared. However, new challenges began to emerge. My mobility was extremely limited. When the EMTs brought me home from Southern Pines, I was unable to walk from the ambulance into my apartment even with their help. To get up a few steps and across the threshold, they put me on a rollator. However, they dropped it, and then the rollator collapsed with me in it. Somehow they got me up and half-carried, half-dragged me to my bed. For the first few days I was confined to the bed. A friend graciously donated a lift chair that could raise and lower. It became a makeshift bed.

On the last day of November, I had another surgery to remove the external fixator. At this point, my left leg had been completely straight and immobile for a little more than two months. As I was unable to drive I had to Uber myself and my mom to the hospital for the surgery and then back home afterwards. Both trips were painful and difficult with a leg that was unable to bend. After the surgery I had to wear a brace that ran the entire length of my left leg. I was still unable to bend it. I have fallen twice since the accident, and I worry constantly about falling again and possibly reinjuring or even rebreaking the leg. Although my leg has healed slightly, I still walk with a walker. It is my belief I will never be able to walk without one. I am unable to stand up straight with both feet flat on the floor. My left leg seems shorter than my right one. I don’t know when or if I will ever be able to work again.

While in the hospital, I made the decision to call a firm of personal injury attorneys. It took more than two and half years for my case to come to trial. Just over two weeks ago on May 19th of this year, I was finally sitting in a courtroom. My lawyers, two of whom I had only met in the week prior, said we had a good case. Dollar General’s own CCTV video showed my foot going underneath the mat causing the trip and fall. Early testimony came in Zoom-conducted or previously recorded examinations. Medical experts including the surgeon performed my operation described my catastrophic injury and the future physical and financial ramifications. The director of the library where I volunteered and my mom both testified about my capabilities before and my limitations after the accident. On the witness stand, I recounted the events of the last three years, and I will admit I got choked up as some of the memories are still very raw.

The defense case consisted of four employees from the Dollar General. The store manager, a shift manager, and a cashier all testified that they had not seen me fall. They claimed the mat was placed correctly and all of them checked it multiple times during the day every day they worked. The defense lawyer projected onto a screen a paragraph from the company’s policy manual about how mats should be properly placed. Each employee then read the four or five sentences. The defense lawyer showed multiple photos of the security camera located on the store’s ceiling. There was a photo of the mats taken a few weeks earlier, as proof the mat was properly placed three years before. Their final witness was a corporate regional manager, who had not even been with the company when my accident occurred. He also read the paragraph on how mats should be placed. Dollar General consistently downplayed my injuries saying I was to blame. At one point one of their lawyers claimed I had tripped and broken my femur on purpose.

When the jury’s verdict announced Dollar General was not liable for my fall, I was devastated because I lost my case after so long. I had pinned all my hopes on winning. I had no backup plan. I hate that my situation has made it necessary to ask for help. I was always so independent. But with a huge stack of medical bills, the need for further treatment and therapy, and my mother’s situation (she’s on a fixed income), I am forced to ask for help to cover some of the thousands of dollars of costs.