Family of 76-year-old man who died after being scalded in 150-degree motel shower wins $2 million judgment

Alex Chronis, inset, died after being scalded by hot water at this Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, a lawsuit said. (Victim’s photo from his obituary; Screengrab from Google Maps)

The family of a 76-year-old man from Tennessee who died after being scalded by 150-degree water from a shower will get a $2 million judgment in a wrongful death lawsuit .

A jury awarded Alex Chronis’ family the judgment for medical and funeral expenses and pain and suffering in the case against Sanjay Patel, the owner of an Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, about 10 miles southwest across the border from Cincinnati, Ohio.

“The family feels that the jury was able to see the wrongful conduct by the defendant and the resulting horrendous injuries which Alex suffered,” Jeff Blankenship, a lawyer for the family, told Law&Crime in an email on Friday. “His death was caused by complications from the serious scalding wounds that were so easily preventable had the hotel management simply had a procedure in place for their customer’s safety.”

The incident happened on Nov. 19, 2021, according to the lawsuit .

Chronis shared a room with two food vendor co-workers on a business trip then. When Chronis got into the shower that morning and turned on the water, he was “almost immediately bombarded with scalding hot water which knocked him to the floor of the shower tub where the water continued to scald him,” the lawsuit said.

Two co-workers of Chronis, who heard him fall and his screams, rushed into the bathroom and got him out.

Despite being badly burned, he attended a festival selling food and was hospitalized and released. Despite doctors’ orders, he went back to work at the festival, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

He spent months in hospitals, underwent numerous medical procedures, and endured substantial pain before succumbing to his injuries and dying on June 19, 2022, the lawsuit said.

Chronis’ family filed a lawsuit that same year.

A lawyer for Patel did not immediately respond to a request for comment, McClatchy News reported.

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