prayed to every day when his wife was fighting cancer toppled over and
crushed him.
Mr Jimenez stopped every day to pray to the statue of Jesus on the
cross outside Church of St Patrick in Newburgh, New York.
When his wife, Delia, recovered from the cancer, the 45-year-old
father of two offered to clean the crucifix as an act of faith and a
goodwill gesture.
However, as he scrubbed the heavy marble object it fell off its shaky
pedestal and landed on his leg, the Mid-Hudson News Network reported.
The pizza parlor employee is now suing the church for $3million,
claiming the priest who gave him permission to work on the unstable
statue was negligent.
The injury on Memorial Day in 2010 so badly mangled Mr Jimenez's right
leg that doctors were forced to amputate it just below the knee.
The church told CBS New York that the congregation collected food and
$7,000 in cash donations for Mr Jimenez and his family.
However, Mr Jimenez's lawyer Kevin Kitson said the insurance company
for the diocese had made collecting additional money difficult.
As a result of the legal action, the church has removed the crucifix
from the Church of St Patrick and moved it to another parish.
Mr Kitson said his client, a devout Catholic, still believes it played
a role in his wife's recovery.
'David attributed the cure to his devotion to that cross,' he told CBS
New York.
Nonetheless, the lawyer maintains that the church was negligent.
He said only one screw held the marble statue in place.
That gave way when Mr Jimenez scrubbed the statue, causing it to fall over.