A Tennessee man died after he was horrifically burned by a hotel shower that reached a scorching 150F.
Alex Chronis, 76, tragically lost his life on June 19, 2022 after he took a shower at Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky- about 10 miles across the border from Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 19, 2021.
His family were awarded more than $2million for medical and funeral expenses on July 3 after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Sanjay Patel, the owner of the budget hotel and Aspyn, LLC, which operated the Econo Lodge.
Following the incident, Chronis, of Knoxville, Tennessee, was in and out of the hospital and had to undergo grueling procedures, according to the lawsuit.
‘His death was caused by complications from the serious scalding wounds that were so easily preventable had the hotel management simply had a procedure in place for their customer’s safety,’ Jeff Blankenship, the family’s lawyer, told Law&Crime.
According to the lawsuit, Chronis was on a business trip when the fateful incident took place.
While sharing a hotel room with two co-workers Chronis decided to take a shower, where he was ‘almost immediately bombarded with scalding hot water which knocked him to the floor of the shower tub where the water continued to scald him,’ the lawsuit said.
His co-workers heard him fall to the ground and scream in pain before they rushed into the bathroom and helped him out.
The following day, he and his co-workers attended a festival and sold food before he was taken to Miami Valley Hospital.
Although doctor’s instructed him to rest after he was released, Chronis went back to work at the festival, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Two days later he checked back into the hospital and stayed there for about five months.
Chronis underwent multiple grafting procedures for his intense burns and was also treated for unspecified medical conditions related to the incident, the lawsuit said.
In April 2022 he was stable enough to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Knoxville, but his health did not improve.
By June 2022, after being transferred to another hospital, Chronis succumbed to his injuries and died.
A Kenton Circuit County jury found that Patel and Aspyn, LLC, ‘failed to exercise ordinary care in inspecting and maintaining’ the hotel room ‘in a reasonably safe condition for the use of their guests.’
The jury also concluded that the plumbing company that installed the water heater at the hotel was not at fault.
Though it is unclear exactly what caused the scorching hot water, the lawsuit said there was ‘failure to provide functioning faucets/fixtures.. and valves.’
The $2,037,545.30 award included $1,271,486.60 in medical bills, $250,000 for Chronis’ mental and physical pain, $500,000 in punitive damages and $16,058.73 for funeral costs.
A private funeral service was held for Chronis, who was a brother, uncle, and great uncle.
‘We thought the world of him and will so miss him,’ a loved one said on his obituary page.
According to Arizona Department of Child Safety, most adults can endure third-degree burns when exposed to 150F water for just two seconds.