Couple sues Smithtown, cites man's brain injury during softball game at town field

A Farmingville man and his wife have sued the Town of Smithtown after he sustained a traumatic brain injury during a softball game last fall at a town field in Commack, according to the lawsuit.

Nick Russo, 30, was playing at Indian Head field in Flynn Memorial Park on Oct. 2, according to filings in Suffolk Supreme Court. After he hit the ball, he ran to first base and his left foot became caught between two “separated, defective, dangerous, unsecured ... bases," according to the lawsuit.

A double first base is commonly used on softball fields to help prevent collisions between the oncoming runner and the first baseman.

Video submitted as part of the lawsuit filed by Russo and his wife, Paige, shows that as Russo's foot hit the bases, he stumbled and fell forward onto the turf. His attorneys said he rolled his ankle and hyperextended his leg, causing him to fall and hit his head. 

The fall left Russo with a fractured skull, traumatic brain injury and an epidural hematoma — a life-threatening emergency that occurs when blood collects between the skull and the outer lining of the brain, according to the suit. The latter required Russo to undergo an emergency procedure to remove part of his skull to relieve pressure on the brain. Russo was in a coma for a month before he regained consciousness, the suit said.

Russo has been at Glen Cove Hospital, according to his wife. The accident has left him unable to talk or move the right side of his body, she said. He relies on an iPad to communicate.

Paige Russo described her husband before the accident as “a very hard worker” with multiple jobs who enjoyed playing golf, working out and spending time with friends and family. “He’s a very upbeat, happy guy,” she said. “He lights up the room when he walks in.”

According to the lawsuit, the town did not conduct proper maintenance on the field and “allowed the first base area, first base itself, and its surrounding turf surface” to become “defective, dangerous ... a concealed trap, hazard and nuisance.”

Nicole Garguilo, Smithtown’s public information officer, said in a statement that the town "does not comment on pending litigation or matters.”

Paige said her husband’s long-term outlook is unknown. She said she only recently returned to work as a patient care coordinator for a surgeon after taking four months off to help her husband through his recovery.

“It’s been really difficult watching someone you love go through that,” she said. “He needs help around the clock, so it’s difficult even for a second that I’m not with him.”

Stephen Maloney, an attorney representing Russo from the Manhattan-based law firm Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, said in an interview his firm seeks for the town to pay for his client’s medical expenses, which he said are likely to be “astronomical.”

Maloney added the field was “excessively hard,” and that, along with defective equipment, caused Russo’s injuries.

Attorneys for Russo also say the field should have had a proper "double first base" or "safety base" where two bases are physically connected and anchored to the ground.

“Our position is that they used the wrong equipment and the wrong bases, and in doing so, they created this trap, this hidden danger that caused him to fall,” Maloney said.

The town completed a $7.8 million overhaul of the park in 2021, Newsday previously reported.