CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A Hoffman Estates stroke victim was awarded a record $39.9 million in a medical negligence trial.
A jury awarded Antonio DeAngelo just under $40 million Thursday evening in a lawsuit against Advocate Physician Partners.
At a press conference downtown at the Clifford Law Firm offices, lawyers representing Antonio DeAngelo said nine years ago the then 37-year-old was improperly treated for high blood pressure.
Attorney Bradley Cosgrove said his client in 2015 was told by a doctor affiliated with Advocate Physician Partners that his persistent cough was due to bronchitis. However, weeks later, DeAngelo suffered a massive stroke.
“The patient was having something called heart failure, and from heart failure you get pulmonary edema, which is where your lungs get a little bit of fluid in them,” Cosgrove said. “The evidence that we brought at trial, that was persuasive, is that the cough was a symptom of his high-blood pressure.”
Cosgrove said this verdict is the highest amount reported for a stroke victim in Illinois.
DeAngelo's wife Jennifer spoke on behalf of her family, revealing what they have endured since her husband’s massive stroke.
“The last nine years of our lives and that of our children have been a living hell. No one can understand what it means to go through life with a husband who one day is working full-time to suddenly being completely disabled and requiring round the clock care for the rest of his life,” Jennifer said.
His attorneys said DeAngelo, once a landscaper and landscape designer, continues to experience weakness on one side of his body and cannot walk long distances. He also cannot drive, dress, bathe, or eat without assistance.
The family would like to create a charitable organization to help people with aphasia, a speech issue which DeAngelo suffers from due to his stroke.
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