The estate of a Mercer County man is suing over claims that the nursing home responsible for his care failed to act accordingly when he fell on the way to the bathroom, ultimately resulting in his death.
Delma Jean Bailey, administrator to the estate of Earl McDonald Stillwell, filed a lawsuit June 30 in the Mercer Circuit Court against Maples Health Care, Inc. for failure to meet its duty of care.
The plaintiff attests that on July 23, 2014, Stillwell fell on his way to the bathroom at The Maples nursing and residential care facility, sustaining serious injury to his head and hip. The complaint states that although Stillwell's head began to swell shortly after the fall, the defendant failed to take the man in for medical examination until the next day, by which point his "condition had seriously deteriorated." Stillwell died on July 24 at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital as a result of subdural hemotoma.
While the plaintiff has not announced damages sought, they aim to secure a trial by jury in July 2016. Bailey is represented in the case by James J. Palmer, III of The Palmer Law Firm in Bluefield.
Mercer Circuit Court case number 15-c-248-DS.