Teen killed by massage chair, company denies liability.

 Written by Janblu Poggio Lopez

 

Nirvagers, the company behind a suite of massage chairs, has denied any involvement in the murder of a teenager by their ToHeaven massage chair set up in the Mall of Tomorrow.

James Hudson, 18, was killed on April 1 in the Mall of Tomorrow while using a ToHeaven massage chair in its ‘Special Massage Mode’, according to friends of the teen.

The family has sought damages from the makers of the chair, Nirvagers, claiming that a software bug was the cause of their son’s death. The company has denied these claims, stating that the ToHeaven massage chair line has no such ‘Special Massage Mode’. They instead suggest that the chair had been tampered with by James Hudson, which is in violation of their terms and conditions.

James Hudson on April 1 was walking through the Mall of Tomorrow with his friends, whereupon they discovered one of the dozen ToHeaven massage chairs set up in the mall, across from Live and Breathe Insurance. According to his friends, this particular chair was advertising a ‘Special Massage Mode’.

“It had shiny text on the screen,” explained Tim Albery when talking to the court, “we took a picture of it. James was excited to try it, especially because it was being advertised at a discount.”

Another friend, Samuel Garcia, reported that James paid for the massage, and settled into the chair. That is when the rest of the friends went to order some drinks from a nearby coffee shop while they waited for the massage to end.

CCTV footage captured what happened next. For the first few minutes of the massage, things appeared to be going as expected. After three minutes, nearby microphones captured sounds of distress and discomfort from James in the chair, including screaming and pleas for help. A passerby is reported to have commented in reply to “toughen up, it’s a massage, it’s supposed to hurt a little.”

When James’s friends returned, they found him already dead in the chair, and called the police. The body was removed with relative ease, and the chair wiped down to clean the excess sweat. The chair has since been cordoned off, awaiting judgement from the lawsuit. Technical analysis has shown that no such ‘Special Massage Mode’ exists, or ever existed. Nirvagers is expected to conduct an analysis of every ToHeaven massage chair in the country to determine if there are any risks of such an incident happening again.

Experts are unclear as to what will happen following the trial. The murderous chair is expected to be destroyed, and the family is demanding up to 10 million dollars for the loss of their son. Nirvagers stock has fallen by 20% following the incident.

When speaking to the press, the technician that investigated the chair reported that “we found nothing about a ‘Special Massage Mode’ in the chair, with no irregularities. Well, except for one. An integer variable that we’re pretty sure is not supposed to be there. Satisfied Customers, set to one.”

This is a developing story.