On Tuesday afternoon, October 22nd, 2002, 47-year-old Terree Roush and her husband came to AT&T Park to watch their first World Series game. She walked up to the level near the tubular slides inside the 80-foot-long Coca-Cola bottle.
When Roush tried to return to the lower promenade to join her husband, the stairs were packed with people. She decided to use one of the two larger slides called "The Guzzlers" to get down to the lower floor. Once inside, Roush says she began twisting and turning through the tubes.
"I went to the left and then as I was coming back, it was so quick that my foot just [twisted], and it completely bent it to the side and shattered it," said Roush.
Roush says she now walks with a limp and injuries to her leg and foot require more surgeries. Roush's lawyer Fred Meis says the slide has a defective design, making it dangerous, especially to adults like Roush.
"There are four turns, right, left, right, left, at very abrupt angles. Now that's OK for a young person, but it doesn't work for an older person," said Meis.
Meis says since the slides are used by the public, state law requires safety inspections. He claims that's never been done.
"Eight years after the slide opened to the public, it's never been inspected. It's clearly unsafe," said Meis.
Lawyers for Terree Roush say others have been injured on the slides and that they've settled their lawsuits out of the court. They've been subpoenaed to testify in this trial.
"There have been broken legs. There have been crushed knees. There have been any number of injuries," said Meis.
The Roush's are asking for more than $2 million in damages plus her medical expenses. The lawyer representing Coca-Cola, the Giants, and three other firms being sued, declined to comment. Jury selection starts on Tuesday.
