MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — For more than four weeks, residents at Sunrise Pointe Apartents were without hot water and gas service.
This all happened last October and November — several people who lived in Sunrise Pointe Apartments told 25 News they spent weeks unable to bathe in their own homes.
25 News' latest coverage on the complex included one resident who was exposed to a gas leak for a period of time.
Now, he continues to feel the affects of the gas mentally and physically. 25 News reporter Dominique Leh sat down with him and his attorney to discuss the case.
- In October 2023, Sunrise Pointe Apartments experienced a gas leak that affected several families, but one man claims he’s suffering traumatic brain injury
- Doctor's diagnosed Lowry with traumatic brain injuries due to the exposure, and will suffer lifelong impairment
- Sunrise Pointe Apartments was not available to comment, and the property company, Tarantino Properties, were not available to speak either
- Lowry sought out legal help, and his attorneys intend to take his case to court.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Bill Lowry lived at Sunrise Pointe apartments for one year and three months, and during a period of that time, the complex experienced a major gas leak that affected several residents on the property.
"That traumatized me real bad — I mean, I fear gas now," Bill Lowry said.
"I smelled it so long, I couldn’t even tell you if it’s in the room or not."
Lowry says he got the short end of the stick — the leak was coming from the closet in his bedroom.
"I just couldn’t believe I was sleeping in that."
After weeks of vomiting, nausea and memory loss, Lowry decided to seek legal action against the complex.
“We have been working this case, knowing that this may very well need to go into litigation in the court system,” said Lowry’s attorney, Christopher King
After visiting a neurosurgeon, Callahan and King Law Firm says the doctors diagnosed Lowry with traumatic brain injuries due to the exposure — he will suffer from lifelong impairment.
"90 percent of my brain is damaged from this," Lowry said.
Dominique Leh met with Lowry’s lawyer and asked him how long Lowry was exposed to this gas leak, but King says doctors aren’t able to find out that information.
“That’s information squarely in the control of the apartment complex, and so far they have been unwilling to give that to us,” King said.
Dominique Leh reached out to Sunrise Pointe Apartments but they said management was not available. The property company, Tarantino Properties, was not available to speak either.
Lowry has since moved into a new apartment where he feels safe, but he’s still scared to turn on his stove or sleep in his bed.
"It’s just so in my mind that I don’t want to smell gas no more," Lowry said.
But what Lowry is most upset about, is that he will never be the same person he was before he moved into Sunrise Pointe Apartments.
"I’m not the same I used to be, I don’t smile as much as I used to — I don’t joke around as much as I used to, I’m not the same person I used to be," he said.
"It damaged me. It has changed my life.”
Dominique Leh reached out to a few other residents who lived at Sunrise Pointe during the leak, but several have since moved out. Callahan and King Law firm says they hope the case takes care of Lowry’s medical bills.
