Student sues college, claims cries for help ignored as she spent night in pool of blood from near-deadly infection
A student is suing the University of Minnesota, claiming that a resident assistant failed to respond to her cries for help after she fell while recovering from surgery — leaving her to nearly die of sepsis.
Eve Lizotte was found unresponsive on April 24 in her school-owned apartment bathroom, where she was lying in a pool of blood with a fever of 106 degrees, the Star Tribune reported, citing the lawsuit.
She had developed an infection from major knee surgery and called the on-duty resident assistant (RA) at 2:30 a.m. because she’d fallen and could not get up, the lawsuit said.
The RA claimed she had knocked on Lizotte’s door — and left when she got no response from the student, who was unconscious inside the apartment, where she lived alone.
Her parents eventually contacted authorities after becoming concerned that they had not heard from the senior communications major.
The student remained on the floor for 16 hours until police arrived — and ended up staying in a coma for 10 days, according to the suit.
The student said it upended her life, affecting her physical and mental health and leaving her a year behind in her studies.
“She had both strep and staph bacteria which is unheard of,” an online fundraiser says, adding that her mom, Becca, was told she might not make it.
The student eventually had three surgeries to clean out her leg and three additional ones later.
She is suing for unspecified damages for pain and suffering, reimbursement for medical expenses, as well as other losses and punitive damages.
“I don’t want this to ever happen to someone else,” Lizotte told the Star Tribune in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in Hennepin County District Court, notes that the school describes its housing as offering “24/7 staff support” and that students are told to alert their advisers if they need medical attention.
Her attorney, Lori Peterson, said she was frustrated by the “lack of care for Eve.”
She was discharged on May 26, but needed to continue getting blood work on her “long road to a full recovery,” her fundraiser said.
Lizotte is active on TikTok, where she posted a video captioned: “When I woke up from my coma and couldn’t remember my mom.”
The university declined to comment to the Star Tribune and did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment Friday.
An attorney for the school-owned Radius Apartments also declined comment to the outlet, but a response filed in court denies the allegations and asks for the suit to be dismissed.
