A Case of Hoof in Mouth

Earlier today I read an article about a Pennsylvania man who has been sued by his mother’s former nursing home.  Here’s a little background:

Pittas’ mother, Maryann, now 66, was admitted for six months to Liberty Nursing Rehabilitation Center in Allentown, Pa., in September 2007 after breaking two legs in a car accident. In March 2008, Pittas’ mother, who was born in the U.S., relocated to Greece, where her two other children live.

As the only remaining family member left in the U.S., Pittas was left to foot the $92,943.41 bill after his mother’s Medicaid application was not approved in time. The Health Care & Retirement Corp. of America, which owns Liberty Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, sued Pittas in May 2008 for the money and a trial court sided with the nursing home in 2011.

That is a disturbing story, but what really got my nit-picking grammarian goat was this passage:

Pittas’ mother, Maryann, now 66, was admitted for six months to Liberty Nursing Rehabilitation Center in Allentown, Pa., in September 2007 after breaking two legs in a car accident.

Okay.  If Maryann were a cow, I could see where this would work:  a cow has four legs, and broke two of them in the accident.  But Maryann is fully human (I’m guessing) and humans typically have only two legs.  Wouldn’t the above sentence make more sense if the writer had said “after breaking both legs”?

I’m sorry that it looks like the son is going to have to fork over some big bucks to his mother’s nursing home.  My family is lucky to have money tucked away for my mother’s continuing care.

And, as you can see here, it ain’t cheap in many states.

But somebody needs to give that writer a lesson in anatomy.  Please.

Human=2 legs Cow=4 legs