A New Jersey pool service technician received $15 million in a settlement agreement with the property owners of a condominium where he was seriously and permanently injured.

According to the lawsuit, James Visconti, 59, was servicing a pool at the Harmon Cove IV Condominium in Secaucus, a New York City suburb, when the wooden steps leading to the pool house collapsed, landing him on his back on the pavement.

As a result of his fall, he was later diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a highly painful lifelong medical condition that affects the nerves after a traumatic injury.

Treatment includes nerve block injections, which cost between $3,500 and $5,000. The settlement will be used for Visconti’s medical care.

“Nobody won the lottery here,” said Visconti’s lawyer, Timothy Fonseca. “This is money for future medical treatment that he needs.”

Fonseca said that prior to his accident, Visconti was a hardworking man, working seven long days a week in the summers.

“But he’s never going to work again,” Fonseca said.

At the time of his accident, Visconti was employed by Preferred Pool Management Inc., of Fairfield, New Jersey, and had serviced the same Harmon Cove IV Condominium swimming pool for 30 years.

In September 2018, Visconti was returning the chemicals he’d just used on the pool back to the pool house. He took the steps and fell through.

He returned home with an injured back and ankle, and his wife gave him a bag of frozen peas for the swelling. But as the days passed, the pain only worsened, which is consistent with CRPS symptoms. (CRPS is a condition characterized by pain that is greater than would be expected from the injury that causes it.)

According to court documents, Visconti is no longer able to walk, bathe, or dress himself, and the constant pain causes nausea and vomiting. Now, Visconti gets 2 to 3 nerve block injections a month, which his lawyer says is the only treatment he has found to take the edge off of the pain.

Visconti’s worker’s compensation insurance had been paying for his treatment, but when the condominium was found to be liable for his injuries, it was necessary to prosecute them to ensure they would pay all future medical bills, Fonseca said.

In his lawsuit against the condominium, Visconti and his lawyer argued that the property owners neglected to keep the property free from hazards.

The case was settled this February for $15 million.