A famous violinist whose career was ruined after she was injured in a celebrity fitness trainer’s studio has won the right to compensation and warned gym-goers about the hidden dangers of Pilates machines.
Maya Mellon, 44, was hospitalised with a fractured left elbow and severe abdominal injuries after the machine collapsed while she was using it at Heartcore Studios in Hampstead.
The award-winning musician, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, has toured the world and performed with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, recalls the “absolute terror” he felt when he was injured and realised his musical career was over.
Far from receiving sympathy or support from the gym, Mellon said Heartcore denied that the accident happened the way she described it, forcing her to launch a four-year investigation to gather evidence to support her safety concerns.
She sued Heartcore Fitness Limited, a luxury fitness brand founded by Jess Shewring and with studios in London’s Fulham, Kensington, St John’s Wood, Chelsea, Notting Hill and Bayswater.
Schuerling, who is also known as Jesse Blum, counts famous clients such as Victoria Beckham, Elle Macpherson and Robbie Williams.
Mellon sent a private investigator to infiltrate Heartcore Gym and gather evidence about how the Pilates machines were operated.
She also enlisted the help of Sebastian Lagree, a fitness guru whose followers include the Duchess of Sussex, Jennifer Aniston and Kim Kardashian.
Heartcore has now been ordered to pay 85 per cent of Ms Mellon’s compensation claim and has paid an advance of £250,000, with the final claim amount to be decided by a High Court judge.
“I’ve spent four-and-a-half years of my life trying to prove that this accident actually happened,” she told the Standard from a rehabilitation hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery.
“They denied it happened, saying it couldn’t have been an accident.”
She began taking Pilates classes to regain her strength after giving birth to twins, and on March 11, 2019, while in “downward dog” on the HeartCore CoreFormer machine, the locking bar broke under pressure.
“I felt a violent shudder all over my body,” Mellon told central London District Court. “It felt like I’d been hit with a powerful punch in my stomach.”
She said she experienced “full-body trauma and shock”, severe pain in both arms and “realised in that moment with absolute horror that my career as a musical instrument player was probably over”.
Mellon said she was escorted out of classes “as if nothing wrong had happened” and denied the opportunity to speak to the class instructor or gather proper evidence, including details of the equipment she was using.
Undaunted, she signed up for another HeartCore class and examined the foot pedal mechanism on the CoreFormer machine, which is used to change the position of the rocking bar.
Posing as a “bad beginner,” she recorded an instructor showing gym-goers how to use the machines.
Her private investigator also collected evidence showing that “at Heartcore, individuals who mistakenly believed the bar was securely locked could potentially perform a series of exercises entirely in an unlocked bar.”
Lagree, founder of California-based Lagree Fitness, has provided witness statements in the lawsuit and has been vocal about the lack of safety regulations for Pilates machines.
He said Heartcore Gym had a “copycat” version of his Proformer machine, but claimed it was an altered design and unsafe because it didn’t allow users to easily check the safety of the lock bar before starting a workout.
“That’s a big problem in the Pilates industry, with a lot of people getting injured,” he said.
“When I design a machine, I always ask myself, ‘Is it safe? Is it effective?’ Copycats don’t ask, ‘What is the intent of this design?'”
Mellon added: “It’s a multi-billion dollar industry, but nobody actually pays attention to the design of the machines. It’s totally unregulated.”
Mr Lagree also called for more people who have suffered gym injuries to come forward like Ms Mellon and expose the true scale of the problem.
“More people need to come forward if they’ve been injured at a studio,” he said. “The studios need to take action. If they don’t come forward, they’ll just continue to do it.”
Heartcore has been contacted for comment.
Last December, at central London District Court, a judge ruled that Heartcore should pay 85 percent of Ms Mellon’s damages, plus part of her legal costs, following mediation between the parties.
An initial payment of £250,000 in “interim damages” had to be made by December 1st.
