INTERVIEW WITH ANN “BABE” DORITE Firm Case No. 15-0013 INTERVIEW conducted by the firm’s paralegal, Molly “Mol” Moore on April 1. This interview took place after Ann C. Dorite had retained the firm to represent her. What is your name? Ann C. Dorite Paralegal: Hello, welcome to Moore Law Group, Attorneys at Law. My name is Molly Moore but people call me Mol. I have been asked by Mr. Moore to discuss your case with you and get the facts on how your accident occurred and your injuries. At this point the main goal is to gather information about your case. Ann: Okay Paralegal: I want to emphasize that I am not an attorney. I can answer your general questions, but I will refer any legal questions to Mr. Moore. Let's get started. (From here on in this interview transcript, Paralegal Mol is asking the questions and Ann is providing the answers). What does the “C” stand for? Clumsy! Just kidding. My father loved the Chicago White Sox so he named me “Charley” after the founder of the White Sox, Charles Comiskey. Can you believe it? Do you have any other names or aliases? Yes I am known by my nickname “Babe” after the famous woman athlete Babe Didrikson. You know she was named Woman Athlete of the Half Century in 1950. I, like Babe, played basketball, softball, track and golf, but I did not play professionally, only in college. Where do you live? 9963 Veeck Dr., Stonecity, IL.62005 I have lived there for 10 years. What is your phone number and email? My telephone is 630.555.8888 and my email is lifelongsoxfan@doriteforall.com How old are you? Really? Ask a woman her age!? Okay, I was born 4/1/1945 so I am 72 years young. What date did the incident occur? April Fool’s day and boy was I fooled as I thought I was going on vacation, but instead ended up in a hospital. Where were you going? I was going to my friend’s home. Her name is Fran Funster. We were then going to go to O’Hare airport to fly to the Mexican Riviera. How is it then that the accident happened at 7686 Sox St., Lyons, IL? My friend Fran Funster, whom I have known since grade school, lives there. Why were you going there that morning? My grade school friend and I were going together to the Mexican Riviera. We hadn’t taken a vacation for 5 years, and we were looking forward to sitting on the beach and sunning ourselves. What was the weather like that day? Typical Midwest weather, spring like, but if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it will change. It did. It snowed the night before we were to leave. In the morning according to GMA, you know that show, Good Morning America, it had snowed 6 inches but it was still snowing when I got to Fran’s. Was it cold out? Yes but I can’t remember the temperature, but that morning the city was living up to its name “windy city” as the winds were blowing that morning. How long did it take you to go from your house to Fran’s home? I am from Peoria, but these city drivers, even in snow, drive like there is no tomorrow. With the typical traffic it normally takes me over an hour. With Sunday morning traffic being light it took me just under 45 minutes, but I drive slowly. Did you take your normal route? Yes, I do not like to drive on expressways so I took side streets mostly Cicero Ave. and turned north onto Palehose Dr, took that to the alley right before Sox St., and turned east into the alley behind Fran’s home. Why the alley? I was looking for a parking spot because I hate to parallel park. I didn’t find a spot so I went thru the alley turned right on Ozz St., then right again on Appling Dr. back to Palehose Dr. I then turned right onto to Sox St. and to my surprise there was a spot right in front of Fran’s house. I did not have to parallel park and thought, “boy this is going to be a good vacation.” Fran lives on the (southeast) corner of Sox and Palehose. Sox St. is a one-way street going east. What happened then? I parked my brand, spanking new 2015 Prius in the first spot in front of Fran’s home. The sign right behind my car indicated no parking from the back of my car to the corner of Sox and Palehose so I made sure I was beyond the sign. What did you do then? I opened my door and as I stepped out into the street, a gust of that famous wind swirled causing my loose papers on my front seat to blow into the street. Those papers were my itinerary for the trip. I rushed into the street to get my papers when I heard a horn. I jumped back against my car door as the car whizzed by. The papers were made useless from the snow. I walked to the back of the car to Fran’s wondering if she had a copy of our itinerary. Did you walk in the street? Yes, what else was I going to do? How far from the driver’s side of the car were you as you walked? I don’t know but I guess about an arm’s length. How were you going to get to Fran’s house? I was going to walk to the back of my car, go to the parkway, and then walk up Fran’s driveway to the front door. I saw Fran in the front window looking out. She waved at me. I waved back pointing to the street and my papers. Was there snow on the ground? No so much on the street even though the City had not plowed, so there was some covering the street, but the snow was deeper in the parkway, as you could not see the grass and Fran’s driveway was covered. What about the sidewalk between the parkway and the driveway? That was snow covered also. You said you were walking towards the back of your Prius so what did you do then? I turned, was walking along the back of my car toward the parkway and just before the curb I stepped into a hole in the street and fell. I tried to get up but was unable to move my right foot. I saw my anklebone sticking out of my leg. I was scared and screamed for help. Though it seemed like forever because of the horrible pain, Fran came running over to me. She later told me she came right out of her house when she saw me fall. She asked me if I was ok? I said, “My bone, my bone, I can’t move my right foot.” Why didn’t you see the hole in the street? I was thinking about my lost itinerary, looking at the curb, not down, and the ground was snow covered. Do you remember what happened next? I was in terrible pain. The next thing I remember both the police and ambulance were there helping me. I was put on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital. Which one? Getwell General Hospital. Were you experiencing pain? Yes in my right ankle. It was excruciating. My low back began to hurt and was painful to the point it was hard to turn. What did they do for you at the hospital? I was examined by Dr. Trapper John, x-rayed, and given pain meds thru an IV. He diagnosed a compound fracture of the right ankle and a sprain of the low back. In the emergency room? Yes Were you admitted? Yes they admitted me to the hospital and then the next morning the doctor Iam A. Mender did surgery on my right ankle. He put it back together and put a metal rod in there to help keep the bone in place. How about your low back pain, how was that treated? Dr. Paul E. Konerko treated me with bed rest, pain meds, and physical therapy. I believe the meds were OxyContin, and Flexeril. I took both for 6 months. What follow up care was there for the right ankle? I went to Doctor’s visits; I used crutches to walk for 3 months; and I underwent 3 months of physical therapy. I had a second surgery to have the temporary rod removed from my ankle. The surgery by Dr. Mender was in late October and early November.. What losses did you have? $20,000 in hospital expenses, $5,000 in emergency room treatment; $2,500 in emergency room doctor bills; Dr. Mender’s bill was $10,000; and Dr. Konerko’s bill was $2,500. I did not lose any wages as I am retired. How long did you have pain and suffering? My ankle pain was intense at first but after the surgery it was painful for about a month. I now have occasional pain and weather related pain in my right ankle. My back pain continues to this day when I walk, stand or sit for over an hour at a time. Any other effects? I have a right leg limp that I did not have before. Have you had any prior medical treatment? I am clumsy. I tripped and fell 10 years ago and was treated for a simple, displaced fracture of my right ankle. I had no surgery, and recovered shortly thereafter, but have had weather related right ankle pain ever since. However the pain is now more intense and frequent since the recent accident. I also hurt my low back in November 2013 when I fell down stairs at my home. I recovered from that injury and have had no pain for the last 6 months, though I was scheduled to see my previous back doctor, Dr. Nellie Fox, on May 1, 2015 for a checkup. Because of this accident I did not see him. Do you know the dimensions of the street hole that you fell in and how long it was there? Yes, I and my girlfriend Fran measured it shortly after I fell. it was 12 inches wide by 12inches deep. I also estimate that the hole I fell in was about six inches to a foot from the back of my car. About two months after I fell the city patched the hole. Do you know how long the hole had been there? It had been there for a couple of years. The City had listed it as a place to fix a year ago last spring. It never did fix it. Fran called last spring and reported the hole in the street in front of her house. The supervisor Mr. Crabby told her he knew about the hole and it was on the list to repair in the fall. I called Mr. Crabby at the City. He told me that he is the public works supervisor for the City. He said the City had established a program to annually fix potholes and depressions in the city streets and it usually fixed the streets in that area in the fall. He then stated that the City had not fixed the hole in front of Fran’s house last fall but was going to do so this spring. Anything else? I made a drawing of where I fell. Here it is.
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