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The two-minute video, shot from behind home plate on an October night, captures what should have been just another play in a rec-league softball game.
Nicholas Russo hits a ground ball toward third base and takes off running. The throw to first sails up the line. The first baseman lunges off the bag, while reaching to tag Russo. As the 29-year-old Farmingville man ducks away from the glove coming toward his head, he slightly alters his gait and his foot lands between the two bases at first.
His ankle turns. His leg gives out. He crashes to the ground, his head striking the synthetic turf at Flynn Memorial Park in Commack.
In that instant, on Oct. 2, a moment of competitive hustle in a Town of Smithtown softball league game became a life-altering catastrophe.
The video shows Russo trying to stand, appearing dazed and struggling to support his own weight as two teammates help him off the field. What they couldn’t see: the life-threatening epidural hematoma forming in his brain.
Now, more than two months later, Russo, a standout baseball player while at Sachem East High School, remains unable to walk or talk independently. He’s at Glen Cove Center for Nursing And Rehabilitation and is scheduled for another brain surgery this month — a cranioplasty to reconstruct his skull following the emergency craniotomy that saved his life.
And his wife, Paige Russo, has gone to court, seeking answers and accountability from the Town of Smithtown.
Seeking answers and evidence
Court documents filed Dec. 8 in Suffolk County Supreme Court show Paige Russo petitioning under New York civil procedure law for pre-action discovery and inspection of the field where her husband’s life changed forever.
The petition seeks immediate access for testing and examination while demanding the Town of Smithtown preserve evidence — particularly the bases that court papers describe as “individual and separated.”
In the video, which was submitted to the court as part of the petition, there is plenty of discussion about the “safety base” at first base.
One player can be seen after Russo’s injury picking up one of the two bases at first, appearing to demonstrate to the umpire its instability or loose placement. Additionally, the first-baseman on the opposing team seems to plead with the umpire — “Move it, then” — to remove the extra base from the field.
The two-base safety method, commonly used in recreational and slow-pitch softball leagues, places a second base — typically orange — next to the traditional white first base to separate runners and fielders during close plays.
The practice was developed to reduce collisions and injuries at first base, a frequent danger spot where runners sprinting through the bag and fielders stretching for throws often converge. It works best when both squares are properly anchored into ground.
The Russos’ attorneys at New York City-based Napoli Shkolnik PLLC are requesting a court order compelling the town and its parks, recreation and public safety departments to provide access and documentation that could reveal what went wrong that night.
What they want to examine
The petition seeks immediate access to the turf fields at Flynn Memorial Park, including the “Flynn Indian Head” field and the bases used during the accident, for testing and examination.
It also requests preservation of all fields in their current condition without modification, alteration, repair or work — as well as the bases used at the time Nicholas Russo was injured.
Further, Russo’s lawyers want the town to provide extensive documentation, including:
- Five years of maintenance, repair and inspection records for the turf fields.
- All “GMAX” testing results (which measure surface impact and shock absorption).
- All “Head Injury Criteria” testing performed on the fields.
- Five years of usage records showing games, practices and events.
- Installation records, contracts and final inspections for the turf fields.
- Any complaints or incident reports related to the fields over the past five years.
- Video footage of Russo’s accident and subsequent emergency response.
The petition is scheduled to be heard Jan. 6 at Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead.
The injuries
According to court documents, Russo was taken by ambulance to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was diagnosed with a life-threatening epidural hematoma. He underwent an emergency craniotomy and was placed in a medically induced coma for nearly a month.
The court filing describes his injuries as “serious, severe, permanent and life-altering.”
A Suffolk County Police Department incident report included in the court documents notes officers responded to an “aided case” at 10:20 p.m. Three witnesses were present: Rich Lang, John Woods and Chris Occhipinti.
The report’s narrative is stark in its brevity: “Above aided fell and hit his head during a softball game. Commack EMS on scene and transported to Southside Hospital.”
Community rallies
Support for Nicholas Russo and his family continues to grow. A GoFundMe page established to help cover mounting medical expenses has raised more than $107,000.
As Greater Long Island reported earlier this month, a spokesperson for the law firm representing the Russos sent an email to the media about a “soon to be filed” lawsuit that stated, verbatim, “the wrong equipment was used, and the turf field was not properly maintained” at the Town of Smithtown-operated complex.
Smithtown’s Office of the Town Attorney issued a statement to Greater Long Island noting that “The Town cannot comment in light of pending litigation.”
Top: (left) Paige and Nicholas Russo, courtesy of GoFundMe, and (right) a video still of Nicholas Russo landing awkwardly and falling to the ground during an Oct. 2 softball game in Commack, submitted as evidence in the Russos’ lawsuit against the Town of Smithtown.
