By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – An attorney for the blind man who fell into an uncovered storm drain alongside a Chehalis sidewalk last summer has filed a lawsuit on his behalf, after the city denied a claim for damages.
Tim Franklin, now 43, was walking to the Safeway grocery store to buy milk when he dropped into a brick-lined pit late at night on July 11, 2012.
Tim Franklin
He smacked his head and struggled for about five minutes to get out because his foot was wedged under a small pipe about halfway down.
Police and aid arriving to the corner of Southwest 11th Street at Market Boulevard found him just pulling himself out. He declined to go to the hospital, but went to a doctor the following day, he said.
Franklin, who moved to Daytona, Florida this spring after residing in Chehalis for 10 years, was fairly low key about the incident then, and still makes light of it somewhat.
People don’t believe him when he tells them he fell in a manhole, he said. Because that’s like a joke, a blind man falling into a manhole, he said.
He seems just surprised the city wouldn’t take responsibility for the missing cover.
“They should have bolted it down or something, it’s weird,” he said.
The claim filed in March was for damages in the amount of just over $30,000. It notes he has headaches, pain in his neck and shoulders and elsewhere and that he has fear and apprehension about walking around town due to fear of falling again.
Chehalis attorney Joseph Mano Jr. also wrote that Franklin gave up working in his wood shop because of the inability to turn his head and look down.
Peggy Hammer, with the city of Chehalis said it wasn’t the city that rejected the claim, it was the city’s insurer.
“In general, there are findings the city has to be aware of the situation to be liable,” she said.
Hammer alluded to something the fire department mentioned last year, that metal thieves had been stealing the covers.
The lawsuit was filed in Lewis County Superior Court two weeks ago. The city’s attorney has 20 days to respond.
It asks for an amount to be proven for general and special damages, plus costs.
The filing mentions Franklin’s medical care, pain and lessened capacity to enjoy life.
Mano writes the city had been making repairs at the location, and in the course of the work, a large hole was developed in the sidewalk area which the city failed to cover or ensure was safe for pedestrians.
Franklin said he sold his woodworking tools and decided it’s time for a job in which he relies on his brain instead of physical labor. He previously built birdhouses, cabinets and chicken houses.
“It might be time to learn some computers,” he said in a telephone interview today.
He and his his oldest son relocated to Florida, he said, because his sister lives there, his mother spends a lot of time there and Daytona has good job opportunities for the blind.
He’s currently playing guitar at an old folks home, and would like to expand the musical side of his life, he said. It’s $40 an hour, but only for two hours each month, he said.
“They like the old hymns,” he said.
He said he hadn’t heard from his lawyer since he was told the claim was turned down. He said he hopes they might be able to conduct whatever interviews are needed by telephone.
Franklin said he wasn’t angry when it happened, but he’s beginning to feel differently now.
“Now I’m getting mad, cause they denied the claim” he said without raising his voice or changing his tone. “Sheesh. What am I supposed to do about my medical bills?”
•••
For background, read “Missing manhole cover trips blind man” from Thursday July 12, 2012, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
You guys are so ignorant! Holy cow am I glad I left Washington state!! I known for fact because this man is my father. How dare you insult me without knowing full circumstances for yourself. I bet you call yourself a “Christian” huh? I know he paid a copay because I took him to the doctors appointment. My father struggles to pay bills like everyone else. He was referred to this specific doctors office and they do not accept medicaid. Not everything is covered by the state >_> They only allot a certain amount per person living off the state. while my father has an actual disability rather than being some fat ass who doesn’t want to work, he still gets treated like scum. I am truly disgusted in the amount of assuming you people are doing. You act like you know everything because you know one fact. I will help you all get to know Tim seeings how you’re too judgemental to do it on your own. He was urinating in public because he is from Montana, he is an outdoors man..they all do this. (News freaking flash!) He has been walking chehalis for 10 years with out sight you think he would know his way? He’s independent and doesn’t let anything hold him back. He is free spirited and doesn’t want his disability of all things to hold him back. He has gotten lost only 4 blocks from home and had to have the police escort him. So don’t you dare say you think he is faking his vision. I am a carrier of this disease and so will my children be if I have them. Its insulting as I sit here loosing my vision at 21 while you slander his name and our genetics. He has problems with his bladder because he is a recovered alcoholic ( he is sober now for 13 years) he has to urinate frequently. Do you blame him for this? And lastly maybe you should all spend some time with blind folk to grasp a better understanding. My stepbrother (born completely blind) turns his head towards what he is doing and where sound originates from. My father had sight for 20 years and has been blind for 23. He has a habit of trying to “look” his disease is Rp here is a link for those of you who do not know but feel the need to speak anyways. (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinitis_pigmentosa) Sheesh people. All he was asking was 30k he could’ve sued for millions like people who sued McDonalds for a hair in their McNuggets for 41million. It makes me sad that it was my father who was hurt yet you all feel so obligated to be so mean about it.
If he’s “100% blind,” how did he know to turn off the alley into someone’s back yard to take a leak? Instinct? And if you “personally know this man” and saw the incident, why didn’t you call out to stop him from falling into the open manhole? Nice try.
And, Denise, I’d be talking to the City about what you saw because if he wins his suit, taxpayers will be footing the bill. They don’t have a printing press at City Hall cranking out dollar bills.
And I happen to agree that he probably should get some type of personal injury award for his pain and suffering and that the insurance(s) should be reimbursed for any bills they paid on his behalf, but I do not believe he paid any medical bills himself! Go for a claim but don’t “pad” it for God’d sake!
Brought up . . . Is what I meant to say in my last post. Sorry to all for the typo. I’m trying to post this from a smartphone and between the tiny little keys and the tiny little screen, I’m surprised there aren’t more errors.
One more thing: WHY WAS THIS IDIOT OUTSIDE URINATING IN PUBLIC?!?!
If you’re his “friend” you really SHOULD shut up because, rather than helping him, your comments serve to make him sound even worse!
Wouldyoushutup, why don’t YOU shut up? This might be difficult for you to comprehend so read slowly. I’m calling your bluff on your claim that this guy pays ANYTHING whatsoever towards his own medical expenses. I worked in the health insurance field for a very long time. I know how the system works. Anyone who is disabled receives Medicare. There are options that each individual may choose as an alternative to Medicare, such as a managed care plan which MIGHT have copays for office visits and even ER visits or inpatient stays, although those copays are NEVER ‘hundreds of dollars.’ The whole point of those plans is to save money for both the insured and the insurance. If the guy went blind from a congenital health condition, chances are he didn’t work long enough to pay in enough to qualify for actual Social Security disability, so he’d get SSI. Even if he could qualify for Social Security, the benefit is based on lifetime earnings, so he wouldn’t get much. Either way, he’d qualify for Medicaid through DSHS and they pay any balance not covered by his primary insurance. For him to imply that he was left with unpaid medical bills would be slimy and dishonest, so I hope that someone on the side of the city in this matter sees this and makes sure it is brougjt up in any upcoming arbitration or trial.
I personally know this man, I saw the incident and he was pretty beat up. He is 100% blind due to a hereditary disease and I believe he is being civil about the matter. He also has to pay a “copay” per visit sometimes up to hundreds of dollars. The above mentioned comment about you thinking he’s a con… he was taking a piss in the alley FYI. Tim is not a theif. Maybe if you would take as much time getting to know him as you do judging and bad mouthing him you would know he is a kind hearted man.
I was really feeling sorry for this guy until I saw this comment:
“Sheesh. What am I supposed to do about my medical bills?”
As someone with extensive knowledge about insurances and medical billing I know that this guy, as a disabled person, would have Medicare. If his disability income was low enough (and it very likely is) he would ALSO have Medicaid. These two insurances would both be responsible for paying his medical bills at 100%, leaving him responsible for $0.
Since there is the potential of a third party being responsible, Medicare and/or Medicaid would subrogate against any claims Franklin might have against the city. Subrogation basically makes the insurance legally entitled to be reimbursed for anything they paid on behalf of Franklin, but only in the event that he recovers damages as a result of any claim he made. If Franklin doesn’t recover, then it ends there. His bills are paid either way.
For him to try to make it seem like he is stuck with unpaid medical bills as a result of this accident is, at best, dishonest. At worst, it’s downright slimy and a pitifully veiled attempt at garnering sympathy and public support.
Obviously he is severely visually impaired but not completely blind. You do not have to experience 100% visual loss to be determined blind by disability standards.
I agree Seems Like, just seemed like the article was almost talking about two people with all the things that Mr. Franklin can no longer do.
The city is still negligent and above all responsible for the hole – anything could have gotten in there – a dog, a toddler, an elderly person, an electric wheelchair, etc. They should be grateful that the damage was minimal and pay what is due. What has started as an opportunity for the city to “do the right thing” is (seemingly) quickly becoming an expensive black eye.
I believe this man is a con artist who fakes being blind. I personally observed him while he walked past me down an alley off 13th St. I kept watching and saw him stop the cane act and disappear into a back yard belonging to my neighbor across the road, of which was vacant and under construction. He then reappeared minutes later, resumed his cane act and continued on down the alley looking into everyone’s back yards. I presumed at that time he was scoping out places to steal from.
While I’ve never been blind, I have played games where you try to do something (like diaper a doll) while blindfolded… I remember “looking” toward the doll because I was trying to visualize what I was doing. Tim used to be fully sighted, seems like he would have also developed a tendency to “look” or turn toward whatever he was making.
That said, even a partially sighted person might have missed a hole in the ground late at night … especially one that was only blocked off on three sides.
I know that there are many levels of blindness, but how could he “look down” in his shop? I do think that the city should be responsible for the hole, but ????