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Woman Injured By Falling Air Conditioner In Manhattan
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 24, 2014
Modified Sep 24, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 24, 2014
Modified Sep 24, 2014
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A 28-year-old woman was nearly killed by a falling air conditioner in Harlem. Chloe Pinkerton was walking on Lexington Avenue near East 100th Street with her boyfriend on Sunday evening when she was struck by the window A/C unit. "It looked like hamburger meat, it was disgusting," she told NBC, referring to her injuries.
The A/C unit split open part of her leg, cut her elbow, and scraped and bruised her arm. Pinkerton was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she got 20 stitches in her leg and one in her elbow.
She is recovering at home now, but the unfortunate incident has taken at least one thing from her: she won't be able to compete in this year's NYC Marathon, which she had been training for. Despite that, she has a positive attitude: "It so easily could have been inches further and I very easily couldn't have been here," she said. "I feel very grateful."
A man, who claims he was a guest at the building where the A/C unit fell, ran out after it fell; he told Pinkerton that he had tried to catch it while inside the apartment. But a representative from the building's management company said in a statement that the incident happened when a "tenant was removing the air conditioner and lost control."
In case you were wondering, police don't track accidents involving A/C units, so nobody really knows how many injuries they cause every year. (The last high-profile incident to make the news was i 2011.) But if you're worried at all, eHow has some tips to make sure your unit isn't a killing machine.
Tagged
air conditioner
chloe pinkerton
harlem
leg injury
manhattan
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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