A mother and daughter were severely hurt after the balcony rail on the apartment home they were renting had broken, sending them both tumbling to the concrete.
They hired a lawyer to share their story and help prevent similar incidents from happening to other families.
The incident happened in August at an unnamed apartment complex in the 12600 block of Beechnut Street in southwest Houston.
“We were on the side balcony just talking about her grades and stuff like that and I bust out laughing, and when I bust out laughing I leaned back and I fell and my daughter fell right behind me,” the mother, Denise said.
Denise described the balcony -- the wooden railing was split after she and her daughter took the two-story, 15-foot fall.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was more in shock because I had just moved to the place—and it didn’t look like it was faulty at all,” she said.
Both ladies sought medical attention at urgent care. Denise said she suffered a head injury and frequently has headaches. Her daughter also suffered a head injury.
Shortly after the fall, Denise said she had to vacate the premises.
“I called the owner and he said to give him a couple of days and he would get back to me,” she said. “He said he was going to going to come back, he was going to help, but the next thing you know I got served a notice to move.”
KPRC 2′s Candace Burns visited the apartment complex and noticed most of the balconies appeared to be in a hazardous condition.
“Landlords like that need to learn to treat everybody equally,” Denise said. “It’s just my daughter, that’s all I’m concerned about as a mother.”
Denise hired Attorney Alberto Ruiz of Ruiz Law Firm. He says Denise’s documentation significantly contributed to him being able to build her case.
“She had really done a good job of collecting evidence for herself of taking photos right after the accident happened,” Ruiz said. “She even had photos from before the accident happened that she took when she moved into the complex.”
KPRC 2 has attempted to contact the landlord or property owner of the complex, however, we have not received a response as of this writing.