Do you think the zoo is responsible for this child’s medical bills?
Published on Feb 4, 2014
A family is suing the Bronx Zoo after their child swallowed a commemorative coin issued by the institution and then required expensive medical attention to have it removed.
They received the coin at the zoo’s Dinosaur Safari event.
When it was handed to the 3-year-old child it was affixed to a card and wrapped in plastic, but before long it found its way into the boy’s stomach.
The family became aware that he’d ingested it shortly after he began choking. They then realized they had 3 coins instead of 4.
They took him to the hospital and an x-ray confirmed the pressed penny’s whereabouts.
Told that the special Dinosaur Safari token would pass, they went home and waited.
The next day rolled around and there was no evidence that the problem was taking care of itself.
Within days the boy began vomiting, and doctors informed the family that an endoscopic removal would be necessary.
Due to the jagged edges of the coin, the boy sustained a stomach laceration.
Hit with 50 thousand dollars in medical bills and having no insurance to cover them, the family has filed a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount against the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
