Left paralyzed, victim sues store

A woman is suing Menard Inc., after a 375-pound box fell on her while she walked with her family at the company's Bellevue store.

Elizabeth Ambrose, 42, of Bellevue, is paralyzed from the waist down, according to the lawsuit.

Ambrose, her husband, Bryan, and their 4-year-old son, Edward, had been shopping May 15. They were in the playground section of Menards shortly after 6 p.m., when a forklift knocked the box from a shelf, according to Bellevue police.

The box containing a swing set fell and struck her head.

The family filed suit against the company this week in federal court in Omaha, seeking unspecified damages for medical bills, wage losses, pain and suffering.

According to the complaint, Ambrose suffered severe spinal cord injuries and rib fractures.

She spent five days at the Nebraska Medical Center, where doctors performed spinal surgery. She spent the next two weeks as a rehabilitation patient at Immanuel Medical Center.

She has returned home and now uses a wheelchair.

The lawsuit alleges that Menard Inc. was negligent in creating unsafe conditions, failing to properly train forklift operators, failing to block off the aisle while an employee operated a forklift and failing to have an appropriate inspection procedure to identify safety breaches.

Menard Inc. spokesman Jeff Abbott, reached Wednesday, said the company would not comment on pending litigation.

The store is at 10501 S. 21st St., southwest of U.S. Highway 75 and Cornhusker Road. The company's headquarters is in Eau Claire, Wis.

Ambrose, a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is an employee of the Omni Hotels reservation center in Omaha. Her husband is a pilot.

“She had a very, very active life,” said the family's lawyer, Joseph Fitzgibbons. “She traveled. She was a very active mother with an active 4-year-old child.”

Contact the writer:

444-1022, katie.fretland@owh.com

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