Nicholas White’s life changed when he was trapped in an elevator in 1999. He was working as a production manager for a magazine when he went out for a smoke break one Friday night while he was working late. White got back into the elevator after his smoke break, only to have the elevator shake and stop moving. As lights began flashing, White’s first thoughts were about the inconvenience, not knowing how long it would take.
Nicholas White was stuck in the elevator for a total of 41 hours. The rest of his account came through surveillance footage of the occurrence. White’s initial confusion changed to panic, as he tried to press buttons and get the intercom to work. The alarm only provided a higher sense of terror, as it was a loud noise that continued consistently, and he ended up pulling off the alarm button entirely. After hours of pacing back and forth, White was finally able to pry the doors open. He came face-to-face with a cinderblock wall that had the number 13 written on it.
White could be seen on surveillance footage doing anything he could to pass the time. He sorted through everything in his wallet, attempted to use his shoes as pillows, and went to the bathroom in the elevator shaft. Without a cell phone or watch, he had no way of communicating with anyone and no clue how much time had passed. White was finally helped and freed from the elevator on Sunday afternoon. He filed a $25 million lawsuit against both the elevator maintenance company and the management of the building he worked at. Security footage showed other elevators in the building undergoing routine maintenance, and it is unknown why his elevator car was not given the same treatment.
After missing eight weeks of work, White was fired from his job. It took four years for the lawsuit to be settled, and the sum, which was never revealed, was said to be minimal. White suffered from horrible anxiety and hallucinations, and he said this hindered his ability to find and keep work. Reflecting on his decision to file a lawsuit, White said years later that he regretted it, and that he should have gone back to his job. The 41 hours he spent stuck in an elevator stay with him on a daily basis, but, as a resident New Yorker, he is unable to avoid elevators.