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Mets' fan: 300-pound drunk broke my back

58-year-old Manhattan lawyer files lawsuit over incident at home opener

NEW YORK - A New York Mets fan has filed suit, contending a drunken, 300-pound man fell on her during the home opener at Shea Stadium and broke her back.

Ellen Massey, a 58-year-old Manhattan lawyer, sued the team, the beer concession, the union that represents the security guards at the ballpark and “John Doe,” the unidentified man who toppled on her.

Massey had surgery for spinal injuries and was hospitalized for about two weeks, said her lawyer, Stephen Kaufman. Doctors put rods and screws in her back and will have to operate on her again, he said.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, seeks unspecified money damages.

“We believe the claim has no merit,” the Mets said in a statement.

Massey said that on April 9 she was in the second row of the right field upper deck near a “visibly intoxicated” man who was “acting in a rowdy, boisterous and dangerous manner for a long period of time.”

The man, who has not been found or identified, later “fell upon plaintiff causing her to sustain severe personal injuries,” court papers said.

“He got up and left,” apparently uninjured, Kaufman said. “We have information that one of the security people might have spoken to him and let him leave.”

Two emergency medical technicians sitting directly in front of Massey gave her first aid and comforted her until an ambulance arrived, Kaufman said.

The incident occurred between the sixth and seventh innings with the Mets trailing Philadelphia 5-3. The Mets rallied to win 11-5.

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Along with Sterling Mets L.P., the owner of the team, Massey sued Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. and the Service Employees International Union Local 177.

Aramark said it was reviewing the complaint.

“We continue to work closely with the Mets and stadium security personnel in investigating this incident,” spokeswoman Kristine Grow said.

There was no answer at Local 177’s headquarters in Brooklyn.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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