Angel Rivera, 53, went to Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx after suffering from a head injury
The family of a man who slipped into an irreversible coma after waiting to be treated for close 10 hours is suing a New York City hospital.
Surveillance footage released by the family lawyer showed Angel Rivera, 53, being led into a hospital hallway and left there for more than nine hours after he checked in with a head injury.
Hospital workers at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx initially treated him and then brought him into a hallway to wait for further care.
But the footage shows no one checking up on him again until more than nine hours had passed.
By the time workers found him, Rivera had slipped into an irreversible coma and was bleeding from the nose.
He died two years later from a heart attack after never regaining consciousness.
Surveillance footage released by the family showed Rivera being checked out by doctors initially in the triage center before being told to wait in a hallway for further care
The footage showed Rivera waiting more than nine hours to be treated as he sat in the hallway. By the time workers had found him, he had gone unconscious and was bleeding from his nose. The family is now suing the hospital for lack of care
Angel Rivera Jr. told News 4 New York that his father would still be alive if doctors had treated him when he first came in.
‘You expect to have care in a timely manner – not to be lost in the system for 9 hours,’ he said. ‘I’m enraged, but I’m keeping my composure because I have to be strong for my family.’
Rivera was initially treated in the triage center in 2014 but then was moved to a second area to wait for care.
But no one checked up on him for close to 10 hours as he continued to suffer from his head injuries.
He had checked into the emergency room of Lincoln Hospital after being punched in the head during a fight with a friend.
Hospital staff transported him onto a gurney and rushed him into emergency surgery once they found him unconscious in the hallway. But Rivera never woke up from his coma
Lincoln Hospital is currently investigating the situation that occurred in 2014
Hospital workers at one point called out his name in another area, but when they received no response they assumed he had walked out.
The footage shows Rivera being found by workers more than nine hours later in the hallway where they had originally left him.
But he had already slipped into a coma and was bleeding from the nose.
He was rushed into an emergency surgery and doctors were unable to reverse the damage.
Rivera remained in a vegetative state for two years until he died in 2016 after suffering from a heart attack.
His family is now suing the hospital for forgetting about him and not preventing the coma.
This suit was brought on after the surveillance footage revealed the length of time that had passed without Rivera receiving care.
Hospital officials have declined to comment on the ongoing investigation citing patient confidentiality laws.
But the hospital said in a statement: ‘We nevertheless extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family members of Mr. Rivera.’