Brain-dead woman's husband comes home to a flooded house

[jsr]

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/26/5515338/a-quiet-end-to-a-very-public-tragedy.html

A quiet end to a very public tragedy
Posted Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
By Tim Madigan

FORT WORTH — A nationally publicized ordeal that began two months ago when Erick Muñoz found his pregnant wife on the floor of their suburban home ended quietly Sunday at John Peter Smith Hospital...

Later Sunday afternoon, Erick Muñoz returned from the hospital to his Haltom City home to find his living room flooded by a ruptured water heater. As the sun set, he and friends were trying to clean up with mops.

“I got here and found this just a couple of hours ago,” Muñoz said. “I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not giving any statements today. I’ve got to clean up.”

[LisaLynne]

1. That poor man. nt

[elleng]

3. Ditto Ditto.

[niyad]

2. poor man, indeed.

[Warpy]

4. I hesitate to say this is a good thing

but the banality of a burst water heater is probably just the thing he needs right now, he'll have to do a lot of physical work to clean up the mess and assess the damage, work that will work off more emotion than people who haven't been through similar things will ever know.

But yes, he should never have been put through any of this once he found his wife collapsed. Her fetus never really had a chance, it was anoxic along with its mother.

I hope he sues the hospital for civil damages from assault, because that's pretty much what they did once his wife had been declared dead.

[kcr]

5. I hope he sues, too.

and I wonder if the fact those who wrote the law said they didn't mean for it to be interpret it the way the hospital did could work in hi favor. I hope so.

[TexasTowelie]

16. I'm not so sue happy.

JPS is a public hospital financed by the taxpayers of Tarrant County and provides care for the indigent and uninsured. They have a duty to protect the taxpayer's interests and they could have found themselves involved with a lawsuit from the Tarrant County DA if they had simply pulled the plug without a court order. In addition, the physician that ordered the removal of life support would be open to criminal charges.

It would a wise move on the part of the hospital to waive any expenses not covered by their private insurance and I believe that they should pay for Munoz's legal expenses since he was compelled to hire an attorney to have the life support removed. I'm also not opposed to a reasonable settlement for mental anguish; however, an outrageous settlement that results in a windfall to Munoz and his attorney doesn't offset the loss of a spouse and is not in the public interest.

There are other issues that will come into play since tort reform laws limit the amount of liability for public hospitals. In addition, mental anguish is considered a non-economic loss and those damages will also be limited. However, the actions of JPS are not consistent with the legal definition of assault.

I doubt that a lawsuit would be successful since a party can't sue for damages to compel another party to commit an illegal action.

[Warpy]

17. If they try to stick him with a two month ICU bill

he's going to have to sue. Remember, this happened before the ACA kicked in.

[Triana]

6. Damn. Poor guy. n/t

[Cha]

7. Shit.

[PDJane]

8. That poor man and the family have had enough trouble.

Yeah, hard work may take his mind off of some of his problems, but a nice warm and dry house would likely have been better for his state of mind.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Agreed, without the added expense of replacing a water heater.

[Chellee]

21. Not to mention, what got destroyed?

Was it simply carpets and drywall, or was it pictures of his deceased wife, mementos from their life together?

This poor man.

[Cleita]

10. Strange how tragedy comes in groups.

Happened to me where I had four really bad things happen to me in a matter of months. They involved fires, loss, deaths and betrayal. It almost put me at the end of my rope in the "what's next?" category. But funny enough, after that my bad luck stopped for a long while.

I hope this guy gets through these life sucking disasters until he can get to smooth sailing again.

[ReRe]

15. I can relate to...

... four bad things happening in a matter of months, Cleita. Betrayal x 2, Shingles and death.

[Auntie Bush]

18. I can relate with the Shingles...still recuperating from mine.

I even had a inoculation...didn't seem to help.

[ReRe]

22. I always get the flu shot and still got the flu last year! n/t

[deutsey]

20. I had something similar happen in early 2009

It wasn't bad enough that the world economy was imploding at the time, but my wife got pneumonia, both of our vehicles unexpectedly broke down on the same day, we really got gouged in having one of them repaired, and my son came home from school with lice.

That all happened during the span of two or three weeks.

[OldRedneck]

11. A PayPal account?

Does he have a PayPal account?

I'm on a fixed income and live pension check to pension check but I could send him $10. If a lot of us sent him $10 . . . .

[ErikJ]

12. Pro-life sabotage?

I wouldnt doubt it.

[Ken Burch]

13. perhaps. But we need to be careful in talking about it unless there's evidence

Those assholes could easily flip that around to make it sound like they're being "persecuted" by us. You just know they already have it strategized.

[TexasTowelie]

14. It was 16 degrees in Dallas on Thursday morning and I think it was 14 in Fort Worth.

Considering that it was in the 60s earlier in the week, more than likely he went to the court in Austin earlier in the week and hadn't checked the weather forecast.

[PeaceNikki]

19. Oh, no.