Woman Almost Killed By Shopping Cart Awarded $45 Million In Damages [UPDATED]

Monday, June 18 update: The New York Times reports that Marion Hedges was in fact awarded about $41 million in damages by a jury, along with $2 million for her husband, and $2.5 million for her son, resulting in about $45 million total for her family. The story also offers more insight on details of the incident: Two boys pushed the shopping cart off of a ledge, which struck Hedges on the head, resulting in her massive injuries since. The jury "said the boys who threw the cart—ages 12 and 13 at the time of the injury —were 10 percent responsible, the security company was 25 percent responsible and the mall was 65 percent responsible." Security footage shows that a third friend tried to stop the two boys from pushing the cart over, but failed. The boys were sent to juvenile detention, but the NYT notes that Hedges did not sue them, just "the mall and Planned Security Service, which was under contract to secure the mall's common areas, including the walkway where the boys pushed the shopping cart over the edge."

Thursday, June 14: In 2012, Marion Hedges was nearly killed when a Target shopping cart was "hurled 79 feet from an East Harlem mall overpass," The New York Post reports. Since then, the Upper West Side "philanthropist" is "a shadow of what she was," suffering from incontinence, memory loss, and double vision, according to her lawyer.

Now Hedges is suing the East River Plaza mall and Planned Security Services for $75 million for herself, $6 million for her 19-year-old son who saw the incident and "still has nightmares," and $2 million for her husband, to compensate him for the loss of the "companionship" of his wife, including their sex life.

Granted, we can't many things crazier or scarier than a shopping cart being hurled at you from above, or at your mom, so sympathies all around. But $75 million is—no small chunk of change. Who knows? Maybe the jurors will in fact decide to award Hedges' family a total of $83 million—but we kind of doubt it.