A man in the US has lost his leg and is suing a church after a crucifix he prayed to every day fell on him.
David Jimenez, a 45-year-old man from New York, offered to clean the crucifix as a service after he prayed to the monument every day while his wife, Delia, was fighting cancer.
But as Mr Jimenez scrubbed the marble statue on Memorial Day in 2010, it fell off the pedestal and landed on his leg, the Mid-Hudson News Network reported.
The injury left Mr Jimenez’s leg so mangled that doctors were forced to amputate it from just below the knee.
The pizza parlour worker is now suing the church for $3 million, claiming the priest who gave him permission to clean the unstable crucifix was negligent.
The church told CBS New York the congregation of the St Patrick in Newburgh raised around $7,000 in cash donations for the Jimenez family.
But Kevin Kitson, the lawyer representing Mr Jimenez, said the insurance company for the church had made collecting the money difficult.
Mr Kitson also said his client was a devout Catholic and believed his prayers to the crucifix played a role in his wife’s recovery.
“David attributed the cure to his devotion to that cross,” he said.
Mr Kitson claims only one screw held the crucifix in place. Continue reading