Elevators are something many of us use without a second thought.
For a Fort Worth woman, a single ride proved to be one she'll never forget.
Rogena Wright says an elevator plummeted three floors in a matter of seconds at Texas Health Alliance Hospital in Fort Worth, where she worked as a nurse.
“It was horrible. I was terrified,” Wright said.
Wright, a nurse, was working the overnight shift as administrative supervisor in January 2018, when she says she stepped on an elevator heading to a meeting.
“As soon as the doors closed, the elevator started rocking forcefully back and forth,” she recalled. “The next thing I know, the elevator just was rapidly falling just very, very fast.”
Wright says the elevator went dark, fell three floors and crashed when it hit the bottom.
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“I thought I was going to die. I really did think that I was going to go home to heaven,” Wright said.
Because of her injuries, Wright uses a cane to get around.
The nurse of 18 years says she's been unable to work and was let go from her job in November.
“I fear for the future. I want to go back to work but I can’t,” she said.
Wright is now suing two elevator companies claiming one "failed to properly detect a dangerous condition in the elevator,” and the other “failed to properly maintain the elevator."
"I just want to make sure the elevators are working properly,” Wright said.
Wright says she'll never step on an elevator again.
She says she prays that with more treatment, she can return to playing with her eight grandchildren again.
Wright is asking for more than a $1 million in damages.
One of the elevators companies told NBC 5 they can't comment on pending litigation.
We never heard back from the other.
Texas Health is not named in the lawsuit.