She remembers the date accurately. It was December 16, 2013 and, like every day, Ruth Plazas had gotten up early. She was particularly happy, with only a few days left for her visit to her home country, Colombia, to spend Christmas and New Year with her mother, whom she had not seen for three years.
Ruth had stayed with a friend that day to go to an employment office in New Jersey, where she had been living for more than 30 years. At about five in the morning she headed for the entrance to the house where she had rented a room for two months and just as she started walking down the street she slipped with the ice that had formed on the steps. She ended up on the floor and a sharp pain in her left ankle prevented her from getting up.
At the hospital, a specialist told her that her ankle had been fractured and had to be operated that same night. “I had to put an aluminum plate and seven screws, because the top of the ankle broke and the foot dislocated,” she recalls. After five days she was able to return home, but on crutches.
The painful experience, however, did not end there. A month later Ruth had to return to the Emergency room because she could not breathe well and her back hurt a lot. Hours later, a CT scan revealed that a blood clot was rising in her left leg, which forced her to stay in the hospital for more than four days and taking anticoagulants.
Upon receiving the second discharge, Ruth decided to contact Ginarte’s lawyers to file a lawsuit against the landlord for failing to maintain safe living conditions for her tenants. “The pain was terrible, which made it impossible for me to work for many months and, because I could not maintain myself, I had to go and live with my sister,” she explains. Immediately after the call to the firm, a representative of the firm went to see her to know the details of her case and to proceed with the process.
Today, four years into the incident, her life has changed drastically. You can not go up or down stairs without support, or stand for a long time or sit up, because it starts to hurt and swell your foot. Still accustomed to this new and different reality, this past June, Ruth received the news she expected: the New Jersey Court ruled in her favor. “I’m very happy. Ginarte’s lawyers did an excellent job. From the beginning they listened and kept me informed, I never felt alone. Also, they took care of all the bills and paperwork, I did not have to worry about anything. I recommend them completely, ” ahe says satisfied. Justice may sometimes be late, but it always comes.