ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- A 41-year-old woman was knocked unconscious and then trampled by a mob of shoppers who continued to step over her as she suffered a seizure during a Friday sale at Wal-Mart in Orange City, Fla., according to Local 6 News.
Authorities said that Patricia Van Lester arrived at Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. for an early sale on a DVD player for her mother. When the store's doors opened at 6 a.m., Van Lester grabbed the DVD player but was quickly overcome by hundreds of shoppers rushing into the store.
The woman was knocked to the ground, slammed her head on the ground and suffered at least one seizure, according to Local 6 News.
Her sister watched the incident and tried to stop the crowd as they made their way to the merchandise.
"I screamed, 'Stop, don't step on her, my sister is on the ground,' and nobody would listen," the woman's sister, Linda Ellzey said. "I've never seen so many people in a store at one time -- in one area. If there was a fire, nobody could've gotten out of there."
When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the woman lying on top of the DVD player among shoppers who seemed to not even notice the unconscious woman on the floor, according to a witness.
Van Lester was airlifted to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. Ellzey said her sister will likely remain hospitalized for days.
