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"My foot just twisted and got caught in one of the turns, the rest of my body just went forward; I felt a pop in my knee and I immediately knew something was wrong," Chad Mello said.
Mello shattered his knee and broke his ankle as he slid down the giant Coca-Cola slide called the Guzzler. Mello took his family to the ballpark in July 2008 as a birthday gift for his son Calvin.
Mello's lawsuit comes on the heels of a jury's decision last fall to award $177,000 to Terry Raush, who was also injured riding the Guzzler. She won her lawsuit against Coca-Cola and the Giants. Her attorney Fred Meis now represents Mello.
Coca-Cola continues to contend the slide is safe.
Raush broke her foot as she slid down the sharp twists and turns of the giant tubular slide.
"As I was going down it, my leg got stuck on the inside," Antoinette Douglas said. Douglas had the same terrifying experience; she broke her leg in two places.
Meis obtained a confidential memo by ballpark management which has the names of 16 people who say they too were injured riding the Coke slides.
They all had similar stories; all wore sneakers like Mello did. Riders are required to wear shoes on the slide, but those injured say the rubber soles acted like brakes against the metal tube.
In the meantime, Mello faces more surgery. He has lost his job as a delivery truck driver.
"We lost our house, had to sell one of the family cars, and now living with in-laws," Mello said.
The baseball season is only three weeks away, and the Giants and Coca-Cola have given no sign they will change anything at the Guzzler.
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