Death by Manhole

Donike Gocaj opened her SUV door around 11:20 p.m. and fell about ten feet into a Con Edison manhole with the cover missing near 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Emergency workers pulled her out about twenty minutes later, and she was unconscious and never regained consciousness. A witness reported hearing her shout “I’m dying!” before she became quiet. Her death involved blunt-force trauma from the fall and severe burns from industrial steam, along with steam inhalation that scorched the throat and trachea, caused swelling, and led to airway closure and asphyxiation. The cover had reportedly been knocked loose by a passing truck shortly before the incident, limiting what anyone could have prevented.

"On May 18, Donike Gocaj opened the door of her SUV around 11:20 p.m., took a step, and, a witness told the dailies, fell about ten feet down a Con Edison manhole that had lost its cover. This, mind you, was not a construction site or some industrial zone full of obvious dangers; it was at 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue, right by Cartier. Twenty minutes later, emergency service workers pulled Gocaj out. By then, she was unconscious, and she never woke up."

"The 20 minutes Gocaj spent down in that hole were agonizing. A witness heard her shout, “I'm dying!” Then she quieted. She was 56 and in town that night from Briarcliff Manor for her job with a cleaning service. The coroner's report is chilling, listing multiple factors besides cardiac arrest that figured in her death. One is blunt-force trauma: injuries from the fall itself. The other is scalding paired with “steam inhalation,” which sounds much gentler than it is."

"The industrial steam that Con Ed supplies is incompatible with human tissue. If a person breathes it in, it will very quickly scorch the throat and trachea. The burns cause swelling, the airways close, and the victim can asphyxiate. It's the early cause of death in many fire injuries. When confronted with a terrible turn of events, most people tend to do some mental reckoning around probabilities."

"Because although having the ground give way beneath one's feet doesn't happen often, it does happen. Earlier this week, La Guardia Airport had to deal with a sinkhole, and so did a school bus i"

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