Glued toilet-seat man out of coma

Vanessa Miller, Daily Camera

Published September 24, 2007 at midnight

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The Nederland man suing Home Depot because he said employees didn't help him when he became glued to a toilet seat in the company's Louisville store fell into a diabetic coma this weekend but has woken up, according to hospital officials.

Attorney Mark Cohen sent out a news release early Sunday reporting that Bob Dougherty, 59, had been rushed to Boulder Community Hospital and was in a coma. This morning, hospital officials said he was up and walking, and he was "doing OK."

Dougherty's case against Home Depot is scheduled to go to trial in March. His lawsuit alleges that, in 2003, he entered a bathroom stall in the Louisville Home Depot and couldn't stand up because someone had put glue on the seat.

When he called out to employees for help, they thought his pleas were a hoax, according to the lawsuit, and eventually fire and ambulance crews had to unbolt the toilet seat while it was still attached to Dougherty's rear end.

As he was being wheeled out of the store on a gurney, Dougherty passed out and paramedics couldn't find a pulse. In their rush to flip him over, the seat was ripped from his flesh, causing abrasions, according to the lawsuit.

Following the 2003 incident, Dougherty said he suffered recurring nightmares and lack of sleep, which he said psychiatric consultants credited to the toilet-seat incident.

Dougherty said the traumatic event caused him to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes.

Home Depot officials have withheld comment on the pending litigation.

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