Woman stuck in bathtub for over 30 hours, lawsuit charges

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Updated: October 19, 2011 3:59AM

During a video testimonial for one of Premier Care in Bathing’s walk-in tubs, a happy customer declares: “I could have stayed in there until I became a prune.”

Chances are, Anna Cullen won’t be making a similar video, after she claimed in a lawsuit filed in Cook County Monday that she became “wedged” in one of the South Daytona, Fla., company’s tubs for more than 30 hours.

“That was the lousiest $12,000 I ever put out,” Cullen, who lives in western Illinois, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I ended up in the hospital for four days, and then in a nursing home for three months.”

Cullen said she was in shock when her daughter finally found her — unconscious.

Cullen stepped into her Sanctuary model tub Sept. 4, 2010, according to the lawsuit. It was just the second time she’d used the tub, which says she had installed a few days earlier.

“As the tub was filling with water, she fell and became wedged in the front of the tub,” the lawsuit states.

When Cullen realized she was stuck, she tried to yank on the chain connected to the drain stopper, but while she was doing that, the chain broke, according to the lawsuit.

“She remained stuck in the walk-in tub and the water for more than 30 hours, and her inability to drain the water resulted in significant injuries to her skin,” the suit states.

The lawsuit blames “the failure and/or malfunction of the drain” for Cullen’s inability to free herself.

The suit seeks “in excess of $50,000 plus the costs of suit.”

A Premier Care representative could not be reached for comment Monday.