Hole on Step at Mall Caused Me to Fall

My question involves injury or loss that occurred in the state of: TX

I went to the outlet mall on my lunch break. I came out of a store and when I got to the second set of steps my flip flop got caught under the metal track on the 3rd step because the concrete was missing around it. I fell from the third step twisting my ankle, landing on my back and hurt my wrist trying to catch myself. I sat there for a bit then got up and went to the mall management office and reported the accident. While I was in there the receptionist asked the manager if she needed to fill out a report and there was a gentleman in the manager’s office and I heard them whispering. They got on the radio and asked some guy named Steve to go check it out and the guy that was in the manager's office also went to check it out. The manager told the receptionist to take my information because they are not sure how the "new owners" handle incidents like this. When I was writing my statement a guy came into the office in a maintenance uniform and the receptionist asked about the step and he said there was a hole there and then went to talk to the manager. After I was done filling out my statement I told them they might want to put something there so people will see it and no one else gets hurt and the receptionist said the guys were going to do that. They told me to let them know if I need to go to the doctor or anything.

My ankle and back both hurt that day and I had a headache.

The next day which was I woke up and my back was very sore. The lower left side hurt and from the top to the middle lower it felt like it was on fire. My ankle was sore and when I would make certain steps it hurt. My neck was also hurting and I had a headache most of the day.

The third day my back and neck are still hurting. Pretty much the same problems. I don’t know if I may have cracked some ribs but I am hurting in the center right below my breast area.

It is the weekend so I have not been to the doctor yet. I plan on going but I don’t want to go to my family doctor because I just don’t think he will be helpful in this matter. I want to find a doctor that specializes in these types of injuries. I have seen first hand how making the wrong choices can affect your outcome tremendously due to my mother having a federal injury that has been going on since 1981. I don’t want to suffer like she is.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated

I really don't see where you asked a specific legal question.

You do need to be checked by a doctor. You can check with the mall's management office & see if their ins. will pay for your medical bills/treatment.

I guess I just wanted to make sure I am going about it the right way. That making sure my choice of a doctor is a very important one.

Okay, my back and neck are killing me today so I decided to go to the doc. I called the management office at the mall where I fell and told her I was going to the doc and was there anything I needed to do. The manager said no that she turned my information over to the insurance company and they should have called me but she will call them again and let them know I am going to the doctor. I feel like I am getting the run around already.

I need the contact info so I can submit the payments I am making out of pocket for reimbursement but they won't tell me who the insurance company is.

Good news is the doc took xrays and said nothing is broken but my lower back feels like my bones are grinding together and I have almost fallen a couple of times today due to the pain. It is really hurting now. I feel like some of it is muscle related hence the burning in my back but the lower part feels like more.
I would think an MRI would explain more but the doctor put me on 3 meds and is prescribing therapy 3 times a week. I have done a little research and some say it is not good to start therapy until you have an MRI so that the therapy doesn't make matters worse.

Call up the Mall and don't tell them who you are and ask how long they keep security tapes. After you tell them, tell then you'd like a copy of your fall. Most security companies working malls will keep copies X amount of time before the discard it, so after you request the tape they should have it for you or you can ask why they don't have it and were so quick to get rid of evidence after you filed an injury report.

Better yet, go down to your local court and ask a receptionist or a clerk how to go about getting a subpoena to get the tape.

Having this tape ensures you have evidence you fell and were injured there. Believe me it helps! I took a tumble on County property because of a hole I didn't see while walking. But I've already been told by a doctor and a lawyer that I have no of proving I was injured on county property or playing basketball or walking home from the bar drunk. So I'll end up paying that bill because I switched jobs and did not have medical at the time of the injury (I wasn't at the job long enough to receive benefits), it sucks, but hey that's life! At least it wasn't that serious.

You have to realize it's not as easy as you tell manager you were hurt and they tell you were to send your medical bills. I'm a former business owner and have many years of management experience in my former field. I've seen many "complaints" over the years from personal injury to claims over damaged cars in the parking lot. I don't know what more you want from the managers to do besides what they did, submit it to the insurance. You're not going to get the manager to admit liability, he/she would be out of a job! He/shes not going to take your bills and tell you not to worry, its out of his/her hands now. Reporting it to the insurance is all they really can do, when you call and they have refereed it to the insurance company all they can now do for you is tell you that they referred it to the insurance company.

I've learned through a family member (as it seems you have) insurance companies are ruthless! Who knows they can tell you you have no proof you were injured on their property, you were wearing inappropriate foot wear (flip flops) and that is why you were injured.

You say you are afraid you re going to make the wrong move... So have you seen a personal injury attorney yet for advice? Aren't consults free? The insurance company has someone working for them trying to either get them out of this scott free or for as little as possible. Don't you think you should have someone on your side who does this for a living?