By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-11 17:07:01 | Updated at 2024-12-22 06:59:14
1 week ago
A grandmother died after she was pinned against a wall for two days by her Sleep Number bed, according to a new lawsuit.
Rosalind Walker, from Godfrey, Illinois, was left trapped between the bed and wall of her bedroom on March 1 2023 after it 'lowered itself without warning'.
Two days later on March 3, emergency responders managed to free the 80-year-old and she was taken to hospital.
In a lawsuit brought by her daughter Angela Moan, it says Walker was taken to a rehab center and then brought home into hospice.
Moan, who is going after Sleep Number and manufacturer Leggett & Platt, claims that until her mother passed away on April 3 2023 she 'suffered the entire time'.
Her suit is seeking compensation for Walker's suffering and injuries as well as medical bills in excess of $25,000.
It alleges that Sleep Number 'designed and sold a bed that did not have adequate instructions or cautionary language, alerting Mrs. Walker not to go between the bed and the wall as she could be trapped.'
The company is also accused of having 'designed and sold a bed that did not have an adequate audible warning alerting Mrs. Walker it was declining'.
Rosalind Walker, from Godfrey, Illinois, was left trapped between the bed and wall of her bedroom on March 1 2023 after it 'lowered itself without warning'
Her suit, which is going after Sleep Number and their manufacturer, is seeking compensation for Walker's suffering and injuries as well as medical bills
It adds that the bed 'did not have an appropriate release mechanism which would have allowed Mrs. Walker to free herself'.
The lawsuit says that both companies 'designed, manufactured, marketed, sold and warrantied the Sleep Number bed.'
The suit continues: 'This negligence was the proximate cause of Mrs. Walker's injuries, suffering, and she died.'
Moan's lawyer Ted Gianaris told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 'Mrs. Walker was trapped for two days and then she died.
'Something as common as an adjustable bed should not trap an elderly person. We look forward to hearing from Sleep Number about why it did not sell a safer bed.'
A spokesperson for Sleep Number said they would not comment on pending litigation.
The company was founded in 1987 with some of its more recent designs including climate-controlled mattresses.
In January of this year they publicly apologized to an 85-year-old woman who was escorted from one of their stores in Dayton, Ohio.
The company was founded in 1987 with some of its more recent designs including climate-controlled mattresses
Helen Dewberry had sought to speak with an in-store manager about a home delivery purchase she had recieved from the company.
After making phone calls to their customer service line which ended in her unable to reach anyone, she decided to go into a branch.
Dewberry told the Dayton Daily News that when she appeared at the branch was tossed a phone and told to call customer service.
She said: 'I said 'Sir, I got dressed to come down here to talk to a person, not on the phone again".'
The manager then told her to leave and when she refused he had three police officers remove her.
The company publicly apologized to Dewberry over the move by the manager with a decision on store personnel pending the outcome of a meeting, they said.
