One man in the US has become bogged down after suffering injuries as a result of an exploding toilet.
Brooklyn native Michel Pierre has been left so traumatised by the experience that he has created a pulley-device that allows him to flush the toilet in his apartment from another room.
He has of course good reason to be suffering psychological wounds. The 58 year-old was left briefly unconscious and required 30 stitches to his head, arm and legs after his toilet exploded and firefighters were called to the scene.
“I’m afraid to flush the toilet right now,” he told The New York Daily News.
“It sounds silly but I’m still scared,” he said. “Maybe someday it goes away but right now I’m in pain.”
Once bitten, twice shy
The explosion occurred after the water had been turned off that day in the 19-story building while a plumbing contractor installed a backflow prevention valve. Experts said a build-up of air pressure in the pipes during the repairs is the likely culprit.
Pierre has also conceded that he was fortunate in one sense that he had been standing, rather than sitting when the accident happened.
“I can’t stop thinking about it every time I look at the bowl,” Pierre said, who was relieved that he wasn’t sitting down during the fateful flush.”
Pierre’s lawyer Sandford Rubenstein is preparing a lawsuit against the management company that operate the building and makes a compelling case for the victim.
“Toilets are supposed to flush, not explode,” the lawyer told the paper. Compelling argument right there.
We’ve heard of dropping bombs into the toilet, but never quite something like this.
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