Horrific new photos have emerged of the burnt-out hyperbaric chamber which exploded while a five-year-old boy was trapped inside.
Thomas Cooper died when the pressurized oxygen chamber he was inside at a Michigan medical facility burst into flames on January 31.
On Monday, Fieger Law filed a $100million lawsuit on behalf of Thomas’s family against the company responsible for the hyperbaric chamber, the Oxford Center.
The firm displayed images during a press conference of the charred chamber and gurney bed, which is now in their possession.
The graphic pictures, shared by Local 4 Detroit show the burnt out remains of the metal frames littered with debris from the explosion.
Entire sections of the machine appear to have melted and fused together due to the extreme heat.
The lawsuit also named manufacturer Sechrist Industries, the Oxford Kids Foundation and owner of the property, Office Ventures Troy I, in the lawsuit.
Finally, four individuals were named: Tamela Peterson, Jeffrey Mosteller, Gary Merken and Aletha Moffitt.
During a press conference announcing the lawsuit, the firm displayed images of the charred chamber and guerney bed, which is now in their possession
Thomas Cooper died when the pressurized oxygen chamber he was inside at a Michigan medical facility burst into flames on January 31
All four individuals were charged in connection to Thomas’s death.
The center’s founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson, 58, is charged with second-degree murder.
Facility manager Gary Marken, 65, and safety manager Gary Mosteller, 64, are charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
The operator of the chamber when it exploded, Aleta Moffitt, 60, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart.
‘It was a foreseeable, inevitable, and virtually certain result of Defendants’ callous indifference to human life,’ Fieger Law Managing Partner James Harrington said.
‘This should never have happened to Thomas, and we can never allow something so terrible to ever happen again.’
Harrington revealed that the law firm was able to secure a court order to ‘get the facility padlocked… so nobody could go in and tamper with the evidence.’
‘We have taken possession of the chamber that Thomas was in, we have taken possession of one of their other chambers,’ he said.
The graphic pictures show the burnt out remains of the metal frames littered with debris from the explosion
The family’s attorney said the boy received multiple sessions for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
‘This should never have happened to Thomas, and we can never allow something so terrible to ever happen again,’ the family’s lawyer said
‘They have been effectively shut down from doing business.’
The law firm has received expert analysis and ‘preliminary opinions which serve as the basis for what [has been] filed’ in the lawsuit.
‘There were no warnings regarding fire and explosion hazards… no warnings regarding electrical hazards, no warnings regarding lack of emergency extraction system, and no warnings that there were no fire suppression,’ he said.
‘These things are designed and manufactured and sold and used for the sole purpose of profit.’
NBC News reported the family’s attorney said the boy received multiple sessions for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
These conditions aren’t among those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for marketing of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment.
The center’s founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson (pictured), 58, is charged with second-degree murder
Oakland County Fire Department arrived minutes after the 911, but the boy was already dead. The fire was quickly put out and there was no damage to the rest of the facility
Attorney General Dana Nessel described the boy’s treatment as ‘unsupported by medical science.’
The Oxford Center said shortly after the explosion that ‘the safety and wellbeing of the children we serve is our highest priority.’
‘Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy. We do not know why or how this happened and will participate in all of the investigations that now need to take place,’ its statement said.
