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The family of a 76-year-old Kentucky man was awarded over $2 million this month after his death from a burning incident in a motel shower, according to news outlets.

The incident happened in 2021 while the man was on a business trip. When he got in the shower, hot water estimated in the lawsuit to be 150 degrees Fahrenheit scalded him. The man fell and was unable to get up until coworkers who heard him screaming rushed into the bathroom to help. The man had third-degree burns following the incident and died seven months later after spending most of his time in and out of hospitals. Third-degree burns affect the deeper layers of the skin and burn down to the fatty tissue. They require immediate medical attention. 

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the grieving family did not specify what caused the water to come out at 150 degrees. A judgment filed earlier this month stated that the hotel failed to properly inspect and maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition. 

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A 51-year-old man who drowned Monday at Discovery Cove in Orlando is the second person to die after swimming in the property’s pool. 

Emergency responders were called out to the resort, a theme park promising interactive activities with marine animals, for a call about a man who was found unresponsive in the pool.  The man, who was reportedly a guest at the resort, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but died later that night. 

Just two months before on May 28, a 13-year-old girl was also found unresponsive in the pool at Discovery Cove, according to local reporting. The girl died at the hospital a day later. 

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A Washington man was found unresponsive after the fireworks he was lighting accidentally hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious, according to reporting from local news outlets. 

The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. on July 5 as the man lit mortar-style fireworks, a kind of firework legal in Washington that explodes into stars once the fuse has been lit. Emergency responders pronounced the man dead at the scene. In Florida, it is illegal to use fireworks that contain shells, mortars, multiple tube devices, Roman candles, firecrackers, and rockets.

Firework Injuries & Deaths in the United States

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Two police officers with the City of Doral Police Department are suing a local bar, its managing company, a security company and one other after a man was allowed inside the location with a gun.

The shooting happened on April 6, 2024, at the Martini Bar Doral, located at 3450 NW 83rd Ave., Suite 144. The two officers, Andre A. Romo and Ricardo A. Acevedo, were patrolling the area on off-duty detail when a dispute broke out involving 37-year-old Jamal Wayne Wood who entered the bar with a gun. The shooting resulted in the death of a security guard and the injury of seven others, including the two responding officers. Wood was also killed that night by responding officers.

Acevedo and and Romo responded to the scene after seeing the chaos of fleeing patrons. Both officers were injured by the stampede of customers as they tried to get inside to stop Wood’s rampage. Wood aimed and shot at Romo and Acevedeo and the other officers who responded to the scene. Romo was “dangerously close” to being hit and Acevedo was shot in the leg, mere centimeters from his femoral artery, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney with Leesfield & Partners, P.A..

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A 5-year-old boy died Thursday night after drowning in the backyard pool of a home in Miami-Dade County, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. 

Emergency responders were called out to the home, located on the 14800 block of SW 168th Terrace, just before 8 p.m. Thursday. The boy was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the hospital. 

Additional details were not immediately available Friday. The incident is under investigation by the Miami-Dade Homicide Detectives. 

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When sunscreen is applied and the sound of crashing waves lulls linen-clad beachgoers into placidity, the last thing they want to think about is the potential for hazards. 

But, as recent Florida headlines have shown, there are numerous dangers to be wary of, even in paradise.  

Reports of an umbrella striking an 85-year-old woman, going straight through her leg, Saturday on Coco Beach have flooded recent news feeds. The woman was sitting on a beach when a nearby rental umbrella flew free from its restraints and hit her, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. First responders cut the umbrella’s canopy to make the injury “less” painful for the woman before she was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. 

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In a statement released late last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission urged buyers to avoid a specific company’s carbon monoxide detectors and replace it immediately. 

Carbon monoxide detectors have the capacity to prevent about 200 deaths of accidental exposure a year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

With regular episodes of exposure to the lethal gas dominating headlines including the hospitalization of over a dozen Miami condo residents earlier this month, the use of these life-saving detectors has never been more important. However, some companies making these essential devices should be avoided. 

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Trial Attorney and Partner, Justin B. Shapiro, recently resolved a case involving a woman who fell on an unstable concrete stepping stone, causing her to lose her balance and shatter her ankle in three places.

The unstable slab was part of a walkway in a common area of the townhome community where the woman was injured. It was the responsibility of the community association to oversee any modifications to the area. In fact, under the community’s association declarations, anyone who was not a part of the community’s staff or a groundskeeper directed to change a certain area was barred from making any repairs or modifications. As a result of her fall, three bones in her ankle were shattered and displaced, categorizing the incident as the “most severe and gruesome ankle fracture known to medicine,” according to official court documents.

Before her devastating fall, the woman was an active community member, a devoted wife and mother, and a beloved special needs teacher for high school students. Following the incident, the daily 2-mile walks she and her husband used to take were impossible as was interacting with her students or standing for long periods in her classroom. 

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Three Alabama tourists drowned Friday at a Bay County, Florida beach after getting caught in a rip current

The men, ranging in age from their early to mid-20s, were visiting Florida’s panhandle with friends, according to reporting from NBC News South Florida. Their death comes just one week before July Fourth celebrations, a holiday that is projected to bring millions of travelers to the state. The three men in Friday’s tragic incident were caught in the rip current by 8 p.m. The U.S. Coast Guard and local emergency services were called out to the beach where the men were seen struggling in the water. Rescuers searched for two hours and the three men were taken to a local hospital where they died from their injuries. 

Rip currents are narrow channels of fast-moving water that can quickly trap swimmers. NOAA advises swimmers caught in a rip current to swim parallel to the shore instead of directly to avoid drowning because of fatigue. 

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Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a settlement for a woman who contracted Legionnaires’ Disease following a stay at a Florida hotel where she routinely used the hot tub.

The woman began experiencing symptoms the day she checked out from the hotel, including swelling all over her body, attorneys said in court records. She broke out in a fever ranging from 101 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit and was diagnosed at the hospital with multifocal pneumonia and Legionnaires’ Disease. While she was in the hospital, the woman went into septic shock. 

Records from the state department of health showed the hotel failed to maintain minimum chlorine levels in the jacuzzi. Leesfield & Partners attorneys also discovered that the hotel failed to maintain the hot tub in accordance with industry standards. As a result of her exposure, the woman suffered an acute kidney injury. To this day, the woman suffers from regular bouts of pain and fatigue.

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