Heartstopping moment five year-old girl’s arm is sucked inside gap by opening elevator door at luxury condo building, triggering huge race to free her and leaving youngster badly injured
- Zoe Garatziotis got her arm stuck in an elevator door in an apartment building
- Had her hand on the door and it was pulled into an opening when the door opened
- Family sued over wrist injury, but construction company blames them for accident
A five-year-old girl’s arm was sucked into a small gap between an elevator and the wall and remained stuck there for three minutes.
Zoe Garatziotis suffered a cut on her wrist that required 20 stitches to close, and now has a large and painful scar, and her family has filed a lawsuit.
The little girl had a pool day last July at the 1450 Washington at Hudson Tea apartment building in Hoboken, New Jersey, and rode up to the seventh floor.
She had her hand on the elevator door when it arrived and when the door opened it was swept away, to the horror of her mother Loni Garatziotis.
Zoë Garatziotis’ arm was pulled into a small gap between an elevator and the wall and remained stuck there for three minutes
Security footage showed Loni and her friend Nicole, who were there with Zoe’s brother and twin sister and two other children, trying their best to pull her arm out.
They tried hand sanitizer as a makeshift lubricant, but to no avail, and after three minutes they finally pulled her free after slathering her arm with lotion a neighbor gave them.
Zoe required monthly hospital visits to care for the wound after the family returned to Palm Beach, Florida.
Her parents sued Taylor Management Company and Kone Elevators and Escalators for negligence on August 31, both of which deny liability.
The lawsuit seeks damages and wants the building and elevator manufacturer to post warning signs about what happened to Zoë.
Security footage showed Loni and her friend Nicole, who were there with Zoe’s brother and twin sister and two other children, trying their best to pull her arm out
Zoe suffered a cut on her wrist that required 20 stitches to close, and now has a large and painful scar, and her family has filed a lawsuit
“If you look at where the door goes in, it’s a very small hole, a few pieces of paper fit in, that’s how it should have been, the hole was too big,” their attorney Edward Capozzi told them. ABC-7.
Loni said Zoe was still struggling with the scar nine months later.
“It’s pretty rough, it’s pretty big and it’s something we deal with on a daily basis. She wants to cover it up, it doesn’t feel good, it’s sensitive,” she said.
Taylor Management Company denied liability and blamed Zoe and her mother for causing the accident.
“Any injury or damage suffered by Plaintiffs was caused by the sole negligence, misconduct or breach of duty of Plaintiffs and/or Co-Defendants,” it wrote in its response to the complaint.
Zoë with her twin sister and parents Loni and Theo Garatziotis
The filing alleged that Loni was responsible for Zoe at the time and left her unattended and unsupervised
“The minor was not paying attention and was too young and inexperienced to exercise good judgment and recognize the risk of injuring himself, thereby causing the alleged accident,” it argued.
TMC argued that Loni was therefore “negligent and/or reckless” in supervising Zoe, which was “a direct and proximate cause of the accident and injuries.”
Kone also denied responsibility but made no other accusations.
The case has been sent to mediation and is working its way through the courts.