Elderly man trips, falls to his death at Pittsburgh sandwich shop

As people get older, they are often more likely to be unsteady on their feet when they need to get around. This can pose a problem when it comes to public places that are probably not hazardous for most people, but could be for someone who might be prone to losing his balance.

It isn’t clear exactly what happened in a recent incident at a Slippery Rock sandwich shop that led to a 69-year-old man falling headfirst through a glass door. The man was taken to a hospital where he died of a severe neck injury.

This tragic accident raises several questions regarding premises liability and wrongful death. If the accident was caused by the negligence of the sandwich shop, either because of a defective walking surface or some kind of commercial display that jutted into a walkway — and it was known about but not addressed — the shop, its owners or the owners of the property could be liable for damages as a result of the slip-and-fall injury.

In many cases, people who trip and fall on someone else’s property suffer painful injuries, such as injuries to knees, ankles or other joints, or sometimes broken bones or concussions. It is a rare circumstance that a customer at a store could trip on something and fatally injure himself, but that seems to be exactly what happened in this case. The man’s family may seek to receive compensation as a result of the wrongful death of their loved one in this awful accident.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Slippery Rock University professor dies in accident,” Jessica Tully, June 4, 2013