I just saw this on the news:
A Staten Island teen learned the hard way that texting and walking can be just as dangerous as texting and driving.
Alexa Longueira, 15, was walking with a friend and was texting when she fell down an uncovered sewer manhole on Victory Boulevard in Travis on Wednesday, according to the Staten Island Advance. She fell down the open hole with sewage at the bottom, suffering some scrapes on her arms and back.
"It was 4 or 5 feet, it was very painful. I kind of crawled out and the DEP guys came running and helped me," Longueria recounted to the Advance. "They were just, like, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
The Department of Environmental Protection said workers had left the manhole unattended for just a moment to get some cones from the truck, but the agency was doing a full investigation.
"We regret that this happened and wish the young woman a speedy recovery," DEP spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said in a statement. She added that crews were flushing a high-pressure sewer line at the time.
Workers are supposed to block off worksites or mark them with warning signs.
The Susan E. Wagner High School sophomore was look at by doctors at Staten Island University hospital and released.
However, the girl's family says they are filing a lawsuit, though on what grounds is still unclear. Her mother, Kim Longueira, argues the fact that her daughter was walking and texting is irrelevant, and, while luckily the sewer was not full at the time, the ‘gross' factor still can't be ignored.
"Oh my God, it was putrid," she said. "One of her sneakers is still down there."
Skittles
