Woman wins $14 million after ice cream left her unable to have kids
A woman who claimed to have purchased a frozen treat from a Florida institution has been awarded more than $14 million after discovering she could no longer have children as a result of consumption.
In September 2018, Brandy Buckley, 43, said she visited and ate a dessert with her son at Bruster’s Ice Cream in Palm Bay.
According to reports, the ice cream was contaminated with ‘foreign and unnatural objects’, including a nail and ‘metal shards’.
“I noticed there was a metal nail in the cone, almost embedded,” the American mum told WESH-TV. “When I did swallow, I did feel something in my throat that kind of got stuck.”
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Despite initially believing the foreign object was a nut from the butter pecan ice cream cone she purchased at the drive-thru window, Buckley thought that she had actually ‘swallowed a nail’, according to court documents.
An emergency hospital trip and an X-ray confirmed she’d consumed the nail as well as ‘two metal shards’ that had quickly become ‘embedded in her intestines’.
She underwent surgery, later developing a blood clot, which led to complications, including ‘permanent infertility’ that would prevent her ‘from having additional children’.
“An ablation was performed, which ultimately resulted in permanent infertility," her attorneys stated, as per Fox 35.
Buckley, who said it was her ‘goal and dream to have more kids’, claimed she suffered neurological damage and permanent bodily function loss as a result of consumption, the New York Post wrote.
The US native also claimed her nervous system was impacted and that she suffered various injuries to her head, limbs, and neck.
In a complaint filed against Bruster’s Ice Cream’s owners, Malabar Creameries, in 2019, the Plaintiff accused them of failing to ensure their frozen products were safe for human consumption.
Buckley’s case went to court, where the six-man Brevard County jury found the national Bruster's franchise and the local ice cream shop liable for damages, Fox 35 wrote.
The jury eventually awarded her $14,147,5245.39 in damages due to the severity of her injuries.
The funds were also awarded to compensate for her hefty medical bills, as reported by LADbible.
In response to the multi-million dollar settlement, Buckley’s lawyer, John Alpizar, said: “We are grateful that this jury of six fulfilled their civic duty and listened carefully to all of the evidence.
“This verdict reflects the seriousness of the harm our client endured and ensures accountability at all levels.
LADbible Group has previously contacted Bruster’s Ice Cream for comment.
Ella Scott