Woman awarded over 14 million USD after finding nail in ice cream

A Brevard county, Florida jury has ordered an ice cream chain to pay over 14 million USD to Brandy Buckley after she swallowed a metal nail, permanently losing her ability to have children.

The substantial verdict, delivered recently by a Brevard county jury in Florida, concludes a lawsuit initiated in 2019. Brandy Buckley's attorneys accused Malabar Creameries and its national franchise group of negligence. The jury determined that errors in the store's production process allowed the dangerous foreign object into the food, holding the companies responsible for all medical expenses and emotional distress suffered by Buckley.

Buckley was awarded over 14 million USD after the 2018 incident involving a nail and metal fragments in her ice cream. *The Sun*

The incident occurred on 11/9/2018, when Buckley visited a Bruster’s Ice Cream shop in Palm Bay to purchase one pecan butter ice cream cone. While stopped at a red light, she took a bite and immediately felt a hard object lodged in her throat. She initially thought it was a nut fragment. However, as she prepared to scoop more ice cream for her son, she found a nail firmly embedded inside the waffle cone.

Buckley immediately went to the hospital for an X-ray, where doctors confirmed she had swallowed a foreign object. A medical team performed emergency surgery to remove the nail and other metal fragments from her body. Following the operation, Buckley experienced severe internal bleeding and blood clots. Her critical condition necessitated a medical procedure that permanently rendered her unable to have children. Medical records also indicate she sustained neurological injuries, prolonged loss of motor function, and deep, disfiguring scars.

Commenting on the verdict, attorney Scott Alpizar, representing Buckley, described it as a fair judgment, commensurate with his client's severe damages. Independently, attorney Danny Karon deemed the 14 million USD award entirely reasonable. He emphasized that a company inadvertently depriving a woman of the chance to start a family warrants substantial compensation, noting the actual figure could have been higher.