The cause of death has been revealed for the Westchester grandmother who fell into an open manhole on Monday in New York City.
On Wednesday the city’s medical examiner ruled the death of 56-year-old Donike Gocaj an accident. She plunged into the steaming uncovered manhole after parking her SUV along East 52nd Street near Fifth Avenue, the New York Post reported.
The examiner found that Gocaj suffered inhalational thermal injuries, as well as blunt force trauma to her torse, both of which caused her death, according to the report.
Barbara Butcher, former chief of staff at the city’s medical examiner’s office, told the outlet her combination of injuries is consistent with falling into the extremely hot steam in the city’s manholes.
“Perhaps the most damaging injury was the inhalation of steam, which would have damaged the alveoli, the tissue in the lungs, which transports oxygen to the bloodstream,” Butcher said. “When they swell, they can no longer bring in oxygen.
“The steam would have caused her to have scald burns on her skin, but the real cause of injury would be the inhalation,” she added.
Lee Ann Grossberg, a forensic pathologist in North Carolina, said her injuries would have caused a “really painful death.”
A witness to the horrific accident recounted hearing Gocaj, a mother and grandmother who resided in Briarcliff Manor, scream, “I’m dying!” as bystanders tried to help her before emergency services arrived on the scene.
The witness said the manhole she fell into appeared to be filled with steam and boiling water, according to the report.