Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

to want to sue leisure centre for a birthday party injury

118 replies

KellyMarieBoomBoom · 01/04/2014 17:44

DS attended a 6th birthday bowling party on Saturday. As far as I understand the (very nice and blameless IMO) parents were being sensible and supervising, I believe with some friends' help. However, DS managed to drop the heaviest ball on his foot, whilst the Mum had turned her back to deal with food. He was in absolute agony, with a bloody, crushed big toe. This resulted in an ambulance being called, hours in A&E, and an operation under general anaesthetic yesterday, to repair his mangled toe. An awful thing to happen at the best of times, made worse by it being his birthday on Sunday, which was pretty dire.
I am really angry with the leisure centre. It was an organised party and on its website it says "with supervision at all times you can have peace of mind that your child will have a great time in a fun and safe environment." Clearly this was not the case! The ball was 13lb, and the recommended weight for a ball for his age is 5lb. I don't think that children of his age should have access to balls weighing this much....surely they could have removed them? He wasn't even wearing shoes - they don't supply them for kids (yet are happy to put on parties). I really don't want to let them just get away with this, mainly so that another kid gets a ruined toe/birthday, but also because I'm so bloody angry about it. Could I sue them? Am I over-reacting? AIBU?

OP posts:

LyraPotter · 07/01/2018 20:14

I'm a lawyer and have done some personal injury work (not my main field tho so this is only v general advice!)

To sue successfully you'll need to show that the leisure centre had a duty of care and that they negligently breached that duty. Unfortunately these are high hurdles to overcome - you would need to show that the accident was reasonably foreseeable, that it could have been prevented by reasonable measures, and that those measures weren't taken.

Litigation is very expensive and uncertain, and can take a long time. And while your son's injury does sound awful for him, you wouldn't be likely to get more than a couple of thousand max in damages. You'll need to decide if you think it's worth the hassle.

Many personal injury lawyers will do a free assessment of your case so you wouldn't lose anything by asking.

Best wishes to your son, I hope he's on the mend soon! And good luck whatever you decide to do x

LyraPotter · 07/01/2018 20:15

Whoops, need to get better at checking the dates of threads!

notgivingin789 · 07/01/2018 20:15

YABU. But I hope your DS makes a full recovery.

londonrach · 07/01/2018 20:16

Yabu. Any count will ask whats his loss in earning etc. Accidents happen. Stop being greedy...

londonrach · 07/01/2018 20:17

Zombie!!!!!!

illustrious · 07/01/2018 20:22

YABU. it's not up to the centre to make sure people don't drop balls on their feet. What are you going to sue for? What could they do differently? Put a sign up stating the obvious - bowling balls are heavy be careful? Bowling shoes are soft leather and offer LESS protection than most trainers. Was he barefoot or something? It's up to adults to supervise children. It's unfortunate that your kids got hurt but this compensation culture is mad. Greedy people after money for nothing.

RhythmStix · 07/01/2018 20:22

Sue the buggahs.

I blame the corbynistae.

notgivingin789 · 07/01/2018 20:24

Zombie thread !

Who the hell brought this back up ??

sarahjconnor · 07/01/2018 20:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Serin · 07/01/2018 20:30

I know a child who had his hand crushed between the balls at a bowling alley birthday party. No permanent damage but painful at the time.
His mum wrote to the managers and they did provide a lovely "party" for him when he was better so that he wasn't scared of going there again.

khajiit13 · 07/01/2018 20:34

YABU. He went bowling. He picked up a bowling ball. He dropped it. Kids do tend to pick up bowling balls when bowling. This probably happened in about 3 seconds so unless there was one to one supervision these things happen.

WeAllHaveWings · 07/01/2018 20:37

ZOMBIE 🧟‍♂️ THREAD!!!!!!!

Jassmells · 07/01/2018 22:03

I went to a party like this recently. I think it's 50/50. The no shoes and the fact they leave the big balls there for 6 year olds is wrong. Having said that though the 6 kilo ones for the little ones could also do some damage. At the party I went to I was the only parent apart from the host who was keeping an eye on the kids and the balls. There was a lot of near misses. I wouldn't let my DD go to another bowling party without me being there.

Jassmells · 07/01/2018 22:04

Doh! How old?!

SD1978 · 08/01/2018 05:16

Other parents at fault if you feel a need to apportion blame. They should have ensured that only balls suitable for the age of the children bowling were available. I don’t see this as the venue issue unless they were in sole supervisory capacity of the children, which whilst bowling is t usually the case, they supervise the party room bit. I would not personally be complaining to anyone, except the parents if you really feel you have to. I’m sorry your son got hurt and hope he’s feeling better.

SD1978 · 08/01/2018 05:17

Ah shite. Sucked in by not checking dates. Bollocks.

Champagneandthestars · 08/01/2018 08:03

I always though you sued to cover costs incurred (especially in America where even a minor injury could cost $1000s in medical bills) loss of wages etc. How exactly is your child out of pocket?

Willow2017 · 08/01/2018 09:16

Oh ffs!
Why the freak reply to something that died 3 years ago?

Flip

1 2 3 4 5