A 22-year-old reality television contestant has launched a major $100 million (74 million pounds) lawsuit against show producers following a horrifying accident that led to the amputation of his leg, Metro.UK reported. Stavros Floros was competing on Survivor Greece when the incident occurred off the coast of the Dominican Republic. While swimming in open waters to catch fish for food, a standard part of the survival competition, a passing tourist boat struck him. The vessel’s propeller severely injured his right leg and completely severed his left leg above the knee.
As per the Court document obtained by E! News, the stranger aboard the tourist boat managed to apply a temporary tourniquet, which kept Floros from bleeding to death before emergency help arrived.
He was quickly airlifted to a specialised hospital in Miami, Florida, where he endured multiple surgeries and spent 61 days in recovery.
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The lawsuit, filed in Florida last week, targets production company AcunMedya and local broadcaster Skai TV.
Floros and his legal team claim the show’s team put contestants at extreme risk by failing to set up standard safety measures.
According to CBC News, Skai TV said at the time that a Turkish company AcunMedya, is solely responsible for its production. But still, they immediately suspended the show.
But Floros claimed that it wasn’t the case. “I went onto a reality show and ended up with only one leg at 22 years old, having felt like I was slowly dying,” Floros said in a statement to TheWrap. “I want people to know that they didn’t look after us, that I haven’t received the proper support from the production company.”
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What exactly happened?
The producers expected cast members to swim and fish in open water, yet provided no spotters, protective barriers, or safety boats to block oncoming marine traffic.
The legal filing states that production executives were well aware of the heavy commercial and tourist boat traffic in the area but failed to implement precautions.
As per the report, Floros stated that he felt abandoned by the production team following the tragedy, stating that he entered the show as a healthy young man and left with life-altering injuries without receiving proper post-accident care.
He also claimed that the production “did not establish any marked, roped-off, buoyed, or otherwise protected safe zone”.
He added that the contestants couldn’t “independently summon help” as their phones were away in accordance with the programme’s format.
As per his lawsuit, TV bosses “knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, of the heavy and dangerous boat traffic in this area and of the risk it posed to cast members fishing and diving there, and nonetheless failed to take any corrective action”.
