Suffered Head Injury At Gym

I am in Arizona. I am a member of Gym X. A few days ago I was
at gym X, doing my normal workout, using a cable row machine. This
machine is basically a cable that extends and retracts. I was doing
a normal routine when all of the sudden, the cable snapped, I had
about 150 pounds of weight on the other end, so the force sent me
flying backwards.

My head flew backwards and cracked the steel
machine behind it, hard. I blacked out for a few seconds, slowly got
up, noticed that the back of my head was gushing with blood. I
went to tell the gym staff, they at first resisted the idea of calling
an ambulance, but eventually the fire department came, they said I'd
be fine and didn't even need stitches. Now I wanted a second
opinion, so I went to the hospital, and spent several hours there, as
the doctor said I had indeed taken a pretty good shot and I wound up
with 13 staples in the back of my head.


Since that day I've suffered neck pains, upper back pain,
blurry vision, intense and excruciating headaches, slight bleeding from
the wound, and difficulty in going about my normal day business, in
work and at school. What are my options as far as taking legal
action against the health club to recover the cost of my medical
treatment and compensation for pain and suffering? What are the
odds of my succeeding.

Gym X is a pretty big corporation, they have
many franchises all over the place, as it is I'm not quite sure where
to start or what possibilities I have. I would appreciate any help
anyone gives me, thank you!

You can contact the Gym and file a claim with their insurance, since the injury was due to faulty equipment if the cable snaped.
Contact a personal injury attorney. Did the doctor release you to return to work? You might need a new days off to heal, please go back to the hospital or doctor since you are still having problems, it is not uncommon for some symptons to appear some days later.

Most gyms (and every single one I've joined) make you sign a release of liablity when you join. These releases are very general and usually encompass circumstances such as this, especially if it's a very large national gym. I'd ask for a copy of the release you signed if you don't have your copy any more and see what it says.

Gee yeah

Ol Teflon has a point, but did anyone check out the equipment when you had the whole team there.

Seems faulty equipment should supersede any liablilty clause? just guessing.

Also tells why I don't work out... too dangerous... just tell my sweetie this story..maybe no more complaining why I am so soft...

Signing a release of liability DOES NOT excuse an injury if “they” were negligent in the prevention of an injury by failure to adequately protect a consumer of a potential hazard, I would assume, an inspection check sheet would occur frequently on the equipment (all). You DO have a claim despite any liability that you signed away. Whether it is against the Gym or the manufacture of the equipment. But you don’t have an easy case by all means. It’s going to come down to you, them and them with no settlement of any value coming shortly. You’ll at best get your meds paid + 500, without a lawsuit. I am not an attorney and the advice I’ve given you is a personal opinion.