I fell badly on a dodgy piece of paving at school and they haven'y even apologised.

[ExLondonite]

I'm not a 'pick up the phone and call injury lawyers r us' sort of person, but this really peed me off!!!
To set the scene ... rainy, early evening. I'm late for pick-up, it's dark - before the clocks went back. I'm running because my 7 yr old is going to bollock me for being kept waiting, I leap over a puddle onto 'paving' . 'Paving' is in inverted commas, because 'paving' was actually a very slippery (like ice-slippery) wooden sleeper that 'trims' the side of the length of the pavement. I end up doing a comedy, whole body in the air, landing on my side, in a puddle, car keys flying out of my hand fall. A nice, young guy in his twenties walking past offers me a hand and picks up my keys for me, I'm trying to recalibrate and know something's happened to my knee, a lovely mum I know comes running over and tells me she's mentioned the wooden sleepers to the headmistress ... so I arrive at school entrance limping, my suede coat dripping and feeling like I'm stupidly about to cry!
The first person that sees me is the headmistress who looks suitably sympathetic and tells me she's going to fill in an accident report form. I warn her about the wooden sleepers - they're truly dangerous. And it's great, the next day there's an email warning all parents about them, signs go up, and three days later the metal plates are put on top of the sleepers.
Eight weeks later, after a twisted knee and realigned sacroiliac joint, signed off by my chiropractor, I'm okay but feeling totally peed off. Why should I have to pay for these sessions, couldn't they at least have paid for my dry cleaning and said 'sorry' , an 'are you okay; email wouldn't have gone amiss. I know we now live in a libellous society, but it all felt so wrong.
I called the school and asked them to pay for my four chiropractic sessions. I felt almost fraud-like asking them to do this. I felt like a grabby, faker and very even worse when the accounts dept sent me an email saying 'accidents do happen', no, they wouldn't pay for my chiropractic sessions, their insurance wouldn't cover it and they were glad I felt better. ARGH!!! Just so you know, I've never done this before - claimed for an accident, I have had 3 children at the school - and...and ... argh!
So, I'm left with the sad, realisation - which has probably always been the case with some schools - that they are, after all, businesses, company policy comes in front of all the moral values they say they teach our children - compassion, kindness, respect for others ..and I'm just lucky I came out of it unscathed, but massively peed off/let down/rather sad/disillusioned/peed off etc.

[DailyMaui]

Makesomethinguoyouprick

Brilliant post

[limitedperiodonly]

My accountant is in a basement and has a sign on the steps saying 'slippery when wet'. I will continue to use him because he is a good accountant. However, if I fall and break my neck I give my husband permission to sue his arse off for not making the steps safe.

[DailyMaui]

😶

[AugustaFinkNottle]

whois, I know that there is a danger that glass will be slippery when wet. Don't you? And I assume your friend did, otherwise she might have made a fuss about her injury. Plus she knew what she was running on.

Sure, you might know that wood is slippery when wet. Do you know that a random small stretch of paving will have been replaced by wood when approaching it in the dark? Would you expect that routinely?

So the examples obviously are not the same. As the school acknowledged, by virtue of the precautions it took after the accident.

[Micah]

You do we have this thing called the nhs? That gives free medical treatment?

If you were that concerned about the money, you could have taken yourself down to your gp and been treated sensibly, and for free.

It was your own choice to pay for a private chiropractor, so you should bear the cost.

[Floggingmolly]

I read the op as the sleepers "trimming" or edging the pavement, not actually replacing an entire section of it renderiing it unavoidable??

[Blistory]

The OP isn't actually suing anyone going by her post. She seems to be venting that she's out of pocket, inconvenienced and hurt and that it would have been nice of the school to recognise this and recompense her. And it would have been the right thing and the nice thing to do.

You cannot get away with installing unsuitable surfaces in public areas. This was a pavement and wooden sleepers are known to be slippery as soon as they are damp. The school were aware as there had been a previous complaint so they had no justification for not acting prior to an accident.

And limited, I get your comparison of the underlying principle.

[Makesomethingupyouprick]

Limited - there wasn't a sign at Hillsborough that day nor any sign in any football stadium then or since saying 'you may be crushed to death' if you come in. And that's not even taking into account the role played by government officials supposed to protect it's citizens.

There is no comparison to the ridiculous examples you seem to be making now as a defence.

You made a stupid and offensive statement. If I'm being VERY generous I'll say it happens sometimes and I'm a good person who likes to give people a chance.

Have the good grace to admit you were wrong and apologise. Your subsequent 'justifications' make you look even more ignorant and offensive.

[austenozzy]

I wonder if the op went to a real doctor first, nhs or private. Didn't know chiro snake oil merchants could "sign off" people.

[Ruthiesj]

Those arguing that OP couldn't have expected a section of paving to have been replaced with a slippery sleeper ignore both the bit where the sleeper trims the path (indication OP had not stuck to the expected path) and also that this incident took place at her DC's school, so presumably a path she encounters on an almost daily basis.

She didn't take appropriate care of her own safety and is unreasonable to expect the school to pay for private treatment for the injuries she sustained. It was an accident, but almost entirely her own fault.

[limitedperiodonly]

I don't understand you at all and I don't like you or your opinions and I think you should be ashamed for one moment thinking there could be any comparison.

That is okay.

To me, it is about the issue of people being able to raise things with which some other people do not agree. That was my comparison between this somewhat trivial matter and the struggles of people connected with Hillsborough, with which I wholeheartedly agree is a much more important issue.

The fundamental thing is that people should be free to question authority or popular views.

But it is your prerogative to disagree with me on that, Makesomethingupyouprick or anyone who agrees with you.

[PortiaCastis]

I'm confused by the last sentence in the OP where she states she came out unscathed.

[limitedperiodonly]

Thank Blistory. It means a lot

[Makesomethingupyouprick]

Limited - I don't think you understand the law nor the recent conclusion after an extremely protracted court case.

The victims of Hillsborough were found to be UNLAWFULLY KILLED. And justly so. That means that their deaths, the loss and suffering of their loved ones and the trauma experienced by anyone in the stadium that day has been directly attributed to the negligent actions of 'an other' in this case the superior officers of a Police force and by association, police officers acting under the superior that day.

It's not a case of 'raising things that others don't agree with' it's a case of negligence of a government body directly leading to numerous deaths and then hideously being covered up by that government body and blamed on the victims for years and years. It has been finally acknowledged to have been a CRIME committed by people who are supposed to protect us from crime.

This OP was about a woman having an accident. Which happens every day. There was no crime. There was no cover up. No one died.

It was upsetting for her and some people may think she has a point (like you) and that's fine but Hillsborough has NO relation whatsoever to this thread or this issue - a crime resulting in almost 100 deaths cannot be compared to an accident resulting in a sore leg so you were completely wrong and offensive to suggest it is similar. That's not about 'popular views' and anyone that thinks so is either not aware of the reality or being deliberately obtuse.

[limitedperiodonly]

I think I do

[PaulAnkaTheDog]

Fuck me. What a load of stupid bollocks you talk limited. Offensive too.

[ImNotThatGirl]

limited when you're in a hole.....

[limitedperiodonly]

What do you find wrong with disagreeing with authority or the prevailing opinion paulankathedog or i'mnotthatgirl?

The pavement was slippy. It's up to OP to take it up with the school or the local authority. They will reach a settlement. Why would you dispute her right to do that?

[MidniteScribbler]

Paying for dry cleaning after being out in the rain! Fuck me, thanks for the damned good laugh. I need it this morning.

[MumOnTheRunCatchingUp]

Oh my god. The 'struggles' of those connected with Hillsborough. Really?? The 'struggles'?

This thread needs deleting. But at least it's shown up a certain poster.

[AugustaFinkNottle]

Those arguing that OP couldn't have expected a section of paving to have been replaced with a slippery sleeper ignore both the bit where the sleeper trims the path (indication OP had not stuck to the expected path) and also that this incident took place at her DC's school, so presumably a path she encounters on an almost daily basis.

If it is on the side of the pavement, it is reasonably foreseeable that people will step on it, for instance when they cross the path and mount the pavement or if they have to walk to the side to avoid someone else.

As for the suggestion that everyone remembers the state of each section of a pavement they regularly walk on and can identify precisely where one particular section is in the dark, that is, with every respect, absurd.

People seem determined to avoid the fact that the school were warned about this before the accident, and took precautions after it. That would be taken as a concession that they had a duty to do so.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

Comparing the OP slipping over when running to 96 people being crushed to death is so ignorant that it's downright offensive!

FFS, report your posts and ask for them to be deleted before someone who was involved in thst terrible, terrible tragedy reads your absolute drivel!

[TweeterandtheMonkeyman]

All the judging about inappropriate rainwear is very odd - I now have a vision of worthy Mumsnetters stomping around in walking boots & cagoules on the school run. Has nobody ever put on a nice coat on a sunny morning and been caught in torrential rain by the afternoon?

[Blistory]

Limited isn't comparing the outcomes of the OP's story and Hillsborough from what I've read. She's saying that there is an underlying responsibility on those in authority to ensure public safety and that when they fall short, they need to be subject to scrutiny and held accountable instead of the victims being blamed shamed into not making a fuss and, to that extent, there is a bigger principle that is comparable.

There was an inherent risk in the sleepers that rendered them unsuitable for being placed on a walkway open to the public. That risk was simply exacerbated by the rain and the OP's increased speed. The risk would have been non existent had the sleepers not been placed there.

The OP is being shamed into sucking it up and accepting responsibility. I seem to recall that part of the aftermath for Hillsborough was the supporters being blamed and held accountable instead of anyone looking to see whether there were failures within the system itself.

You might think it's a tasteless comparison but I think there's merit in a more critical analysis that looks at what underlies our expectations for public safety by those in a position of responsibilty. But hey ho, it's much more fun to write this off as AIBU and indulge in a little poster bashing.

[SukeyTakeItOffAgain]

Businesses have it drummed into them not to say sorry in case a "where there's blame there's a claim" person uses it as an excuse to say "they're sorry! They've admitted they're at fault! I want their money!"

Sad sign of the times we live in.