Porch catastrophic injury: New York says it's up to you

Like thousands of porches in Chicago, the rickety landing where Atit Mansuria and Carolina Landeros were chatting hadn't been inspected for years -- in this case, since it was built in the mid-1980s, said John Q. Kelly, a New York catastrophic injury lawyer.

Its railing suddenly broke open like a gate, sending them tumbling 20 feet to the concrete alley below. Landeros, 20, fractured her neck, but is now recovering. Mansuria, 27, suffered severe head injuries and remains hospitalized.