A man who says his nearly fatal myocardial infarction was triggered by January’s false missile alert in Hawaii is now suing the state and then-administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency for damages, CBS News reported.
James Sean Shields, 51 at the time of his heart attack, also named unidentified state employees, individuals and entities responsible for the missile alert in his lawsuit, which he filed Nov. 27. On Jan. 13, the day a Hawaii EMA employee accidentally sent the missile alert to cell phones and broadcasters across the state, Shields and his girlfriend, Brenda Reichel, called their families to say goodbye and drove to Sandy Beach to die together. They assumed the missile would hit.
Shields reportedly started experiencing MI symptoms shortly after he talked to his two children on the phone. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and received four stents.
The survivor is seeking unspecified damages in the suit, according to CBS, but Reichel also joined the effort, claiming she suffered “emotional upset” after watching her boyfriend nearly die several times.
A spokesman for the Hawaii EMA said the agency would be withholding comment until they’ve had the chance to review Shields’ and Reichel’s claims in full.
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.