On Thursday, a Cumberland County civil jury took less than an hour to return a $2 million verdict against Walmart for a Gray’s Creek man after he was struck by merchandise at the store in Hope Mills.
According to his attorney, Brent Adams of Dunn, John Cain was injured when 50 pound bags of Ol’Roy Dog Food fell on his neck and back. Among the injuries suffered by Cain as a result of the fall were back sprain, an exacerbation of his pre-existing regenerative disk disease and a 3.5mm anterolisthesis of the C3 and C4 vertebrae, which a doctor explained is a displacement of the vertebra in his back.
The majority of Cain’s injuries were treated at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Fayetteville.
According to Adams, Dr. Douglas McFarlane, a retired orthopedic surgeon from Fayetteville, testified that as a result of the injuries he suffered, Cain had pain on a daily basis and he would continue to experience pain each day for the remainder of his life. McFarlane also testified that these injuries were permanent and resulted in significant limitation of motion of his neck and that he should lift no more than 5 pounds. Cain was an active horseman and hunter. As a result of the injuries, he can no longer ride horseback or go hunting.
Adams said the injury occurred when Cain bent down to pick up a bag of dog food from a short pile. Sitting beside the short pile was a stack of dog food bags approximately 7 feet high. When Cain bent down to pick up the dog food from the shorter pile, several 50-pound bags fell off the higher stack.
Jury deliberations took only 45 minutes before jurors returned the verdict against Walmart.
-Dunn Daily Record
