Mar 7, 2007 6:37 pm US/Eastern
Brooklyn Woman Wakes Up To Bed Bug Nightmare
Tenant Sues Landlord For $5 Million After Waking Up Covered In Lesions
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Ellyn Glicksman-Sullivan took over two dozen photos documenting her bed bug nightmare.
CBS
A Brooklyn woman is suing her landlord after waking up with a nightmare of a rash all over her body thanks to hundreds of critters we're so frequently told not to let bite if we want to sleep tight and have a good night: bed bugs.
Ellyn Glicksman-Sullivan claims the pests turned her life upside down eight months ago after she discovered an infestation of them were apparently taking over her apartment. "I was an absolute mess. I wasn't sleeping," she told CBS 2. "I just felt things crawling on me all the time."
Her horror peaked when she woke up one morning with red lesions covering her body. It took three doctors and a biopsy to zero in on the culprits. That's when Glicksman-Sullivan called her landlord, who sent over an exterminator. Despite the extermination, the bed bugs weren't kept at bay.
"Two nights after that, I got bitten all over my face," she said.
Sullivan says that calls for further help after the second incident went unanswered, so she had no other option, but to pack up what she could and leave her home of 25 years. Her attorney told CBS 2 that she'd been told there were two other apartments besides hers that either had or have had bed bugs.
However, an apartment supervisor on site said Glicksman-Sullivan's case is an isolated incident and there were no other apartments inside the building with the same problem. Her neighbor also calls the allegation false.
"I say it was brought in from the person in the apartment. That's all I can say, I've heard of no one else complaining," the neighbor said.
Sullivan took pictures of the lesions she suffered from the bugs and is now suing for $5 million. She says all she really wants now is to get her home back, so she can finally have a good night's rest.
"[It's] a disorganized mess, chaos. It affected every facet of my life," she said.
Sullivan's apartment is owned by Manhattan Eight Corporation. No one from the office was available immediately for comment.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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