Revealed: The 'mortified' texting shopper who fell in mall fountain... and now she's suing the security guards who laughed at her
The woman who accidentally fell into a shopping mall fountain while texting on her mobile phone has spoken about the incident for the first time - and says she is suing.
CCTV footage of Cathy Marrero failing to notice that she was walking straight into a pool of water became a YouTube hit after being watched by 1.5million people.
But the 49-year-old, revealing her identity for the first time, says she doesn't find the video very funny and plans to take the mall in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania to court after accusing staff of laughing instead of helping her out of the water.
Speaking of the moment she unwittingly took the plunge, she said: ‘I saw the water coming at me, I could see the pennies and nickels at the bottom of the fountain and then I was in it.'
Security surveillance showed Ms Marrero walking in a straight line while texting on her phone, oblivious to what was around her - or directly in front of her.
She then fell into the cold water before struggling to get out and making a swift exit.
The video was posted with commentary by what is believed to be laughing mall employees who watched the video over and over.
Mrs Marrero said she was left mortified by the incident.
‘My issue is I don't think security was professional because they didn't send anyone to check on me until 20 minutes later and I had already left,’ she told the Reading Eagle.
‘Instead of laughing, they should have said, 'Is she OK?' and been down there right away to check on me.'
She added: 'I'm just like dumbfounded. And all I kept saying was: ‘I fell. I fell. I fell in the fountain. I fell in the fountain.’
After watching the woman's embarrassing fall, a worker is captured saying: 'And then she just awkwardly walks away'.
'Oh my God! Play it back, play it back', one viewer said, wanting to see the hilarious footage again.
The worker then shows the woman's fall from a different angle which brings more hoots of laughter.
One of the housekeeping workers then walked up to Ms Marrero to see if she was hurt.
The security guard said: 'Paedro asked her if she is all right and she said: "Yes - I'm just a little wet."'
Mrs Marrero said she was leaving work at a nearby shop that day and texting a friend from church who wanted to know her birthday and the birthday of her husband, Walter Marrero, 46, an unemployed maintenance worker.
‘I usually don't walk and text, but I did this day,’ she said. ‘I won't any more.’
She said she never texts while driving.
‘That's so dangerous,’ she said.
While she has had a chuckle about it, she said she's also had about enough.
‘It's funny, but you need to see the serious side of it,’ she said.
‘What if it was a senior citizen? Would it be funny then?’
She said she approached mall management about it and security officials told her it was not a big deal because no one could see her face in the video.
‘But I know it's me,’ she said.
Texting while driving has been banned in Britain and several U.S. states and the risks of distractedly tapping on a mobile phone while behind the wheel are obvious.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ghing.html
the only money she deserves is what ever she can grab from the water she fell in!
