She Stepped on a Nail at Walmart, Won $10M

SC's April Jones lost most of her right leg as a result, jurors decided
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 1, 2021 2:35 PM CST
She Stepped on a Nail at Walmart, Won $10M
April Jones and her supporters.   (Anastopoulo Law Firm)

April Jones was walking down the main aisle of her local Walmart when she stepped on a nail. It was a moment that would forever change her life. Over the next six years the Florence, SC, woman would undergo multiple amputations and lose most of her right leg, reports WMBF. Days ago, she finally got some relief. A jury deliberated for just two hours before awarding Jones, who now uses a wheelchair, $10 million in damages. "The jury sent a message to Walmart that if you come into Florence County and injure one of their own, they will make sure that person is taken care of," Jones attorney Roy Willey IV said, per the Washington Post. "We are forever grateful."

Not so for Walmart. "We do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence or that Ms. Jones' injury resulted from what was alleged in her complaint," a rep says. Jones had filed a lawsuit against Walmart in 2017, claiming that a rusty nail went through her sandal and became lodged in her foot as she walked by some pallets at the Florence Walmart on June 26, 2015, per the Post. She said she visited a hospital, where her foot was cleaned, before receiving a tetanus shot and antibiotics. Still, she said she later had toes removed and, after seeing her foot turn black, permitted her leg to be amputated above the knee. She was hospitalized for almost a month following the procedure.

Jones argued Walmart staff "knew or should have known" that the store condition was dangerous. But Walmart attorneys said Jones "wholly failed to establish that Walmart placed the nail on the floor or that Walmart knew or reasonably should have known of the presence of the nail on the floor." They added the roofing nail was too short to fasten boards on a pallet, per the Post. Jones' lawyers said "the weakness of Walmart's case, among other things, was their failure to produce a video" supporting their claim of regular safety sweeps, per WMBF. They add the award will be used to cover medical expenses, purchase prosthetics, and make Jones' home more wheelchair-accessible. (Another Walmart shopper was just awarded $2.1 million.)

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