I was left paralysed after the bar I was drinking in collapsed – I don’t know how long I was under the rubble
A MAN has told of the moment his life changed forever when the bar he was enjoying a drink and a pizza with his friends in Brazil collapsed on him, leaving him paraplegic.
Maicon Godinho de Oliveira, 35, left his home and walked 200 meters to the Just 4D bar, in the São Geraldo neighbourhood of Porto Alegre, where he was expecting to spend a fun evening.
GooglePolice investigations found that the Just 4D had been operating illegally[/caption]
FacebookMaicon Godinho de Oliveira spent 30 days in a coma following the tragic incident[/caption]
Less than ten minutes after he arrived, Maicon was hit in the back by part of the bar’s mezzanine structure that collapsed on customers and tables in December last year.
“I felt a terrible impact and fell to the ground. I stayed there, on the floor, with everything on top of me. I couldn’t move,” Maicon told Gaucha ZH.
The salesman was eventually taken to hospital, where he spent the next three months, including 30 days in a coma.
When he woke up, Maicon was delivered the news he had become paraplegic.
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As he was left fighting for his life in hospital, Maicon also suffered from infections, caught Covid-19 and developed pneumonia.
Now back home, where he lives on a hospital bed donated by a friend installed in his bedroom, Maicon depends on medication and daily physical exercise.
He must use a tracheostomy tube and is forced to wear disposable diapers.
Maicon’s mum Iraci Gomes Godinho customised a wheelchair to fit the building’s lift doors and allow her son to get around.
The young man has recently begun recovering some sensitivity in his right leg – and he is celebrating every step in his recovery.
“My greatest desire is to walk,” he added.
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Just 4D operated illegally, city hall and the police said, adding that the bar did not have a licence to operate as a nightclub.
Investigations found that the mezzanine, which had been installed by previous tenants, had no structure to support weight.
On the night of the accident on December 4, 2021, which also left engineering student Cássia Galvão de Oliveira injured, 25 people had gathered on the mezzanine to take a photo.
The police revealed that both the manager and his partner had been informed of the issue, but had failed to take any measures to prevent a collapse.
Managing partners Omar Luz Mobayed and Sérgio Luiz Rodrigues Costa were charged with bodily harm, serious bodily injury and collapse on Tuesday.
Tmaicon’s lawyer Ritielle Duarte, meanwhile, filed a lawsuit for moral and material damages against the bar’s partners, the city hall and the state government.
Just 4D lawyer Gelson Lucas Pacheco Fassina da Silva, said: “The defense awaits the Public Ministry’s position and its final decision regarding the legal framework of the complaint, trusting that the classification will be built without external pressure and excesses of accusation.”