Shopper Injured by Falling Goods Wins Court Award

Fisherman Greg Real won a $365,000 court award this week, but he says it really doesn’t mean that much to him.

Real, 35, a former sea-urchin diver, had stopped by an Oxnard Wal-Mart in 1997 to pick up some razor blades when a stack of hard plastic storage containers tumbled off a 7-foot-high shelf and knocked him unconscious.

He was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with neck and back problems. He was told that if he ever dived again, he could become a quadriplegic.

“I loved what I did and it was my livelihood,” he said after Wednesday’s verdict.

Real said he didn’t want to come across as “sniveling,” but his medical and legal expenses have amounted to $250,000. He has a herniated disk in his neck, which he says will require surgery.

Real’s case was argued by Jeffrey Hyman, a Denver attorney who said he has worked on 10 similar cases against Wal-Mart across the country.