To claim compensation against a farm?

[Cat1984]

My 5 year old dd broke her arm badly at a school trip to the farm over a week ago and had to be operated on and now has wires holding her bones in place at the elbow, she has no movement in her index finger on her right arm and me and her school are trying to decide whether or not to let her go back to school. She's really traumatised by it all and keeps having flashbacks and getting upset, she even told me she never wants to go on another school trip. I've been told by a few people that I should sue the school or farm or claim compensation but I'm not sure about it because I'm so drained and exhausted my brain is barely working atm. WIBU to put in a claim?

Free = feel
Have = half

Dyslexia and half broken phone!

Absolutely you can break bones by simply falling over awkwardly -my DD did so at 5 at school and suffered a bad break to her arm. My friend stuck her foot in a tiddly little pot hole (seriously, a dent) the other day and is having surgery on her ankle for a really severe break. It happens. I'm so sorry this has happened to your DD. I hope she starts to feel better soon and that her poor arm recovers well. Surely it would be up to the teachers to supervise the children at a working farm, not the farm staff? Most play areas at these places are unsupervised (and signed as such). I can't see how the farm would be at fault unless the equipment was damaged or faulty/fell to bits?

If it looks like nothing will be done to prevent a recurrence, then I would look at what else could be done to make people take the incident seriously

But what if nothing could be done to prevent a recurrence? Obviously if equipment at the farm was poorly constructed or not maintained properly and was thus rendered dangerous, then this absolutely needs to be dealt with by the appropriate authorities. Equally, if school not providing appropriate ratio of teachers/helpers: children then that needs to be addressed by the school. However, not every adverse event or injury can be prevented or is someones fault. I wish this culture of "someone must be to blame" wasn't so common.

The equipment could have been in good order and the school could have been supervising adequately (given that 1:1 supervision cannot be provided, if we as parents consent to them going on trips we have to accept this, I would say) but it's just been one of those things.

For instance OPs DD could have simply landed awkwardly- working in A&E/fracture clinic I've seen many a fracture from an innocuous fall in otherwise fit and healthy children and adults. My own DN managed to fracture a wrist in a fall over his own feet while walking in the garden!

I hope your DD makes a swift recovery.

Assuming you don't permit your daughter to: play on climbing frames or climb on structures above her waist height; use scooters or heelies; walk up or down stairs without holding the hand of an adult; go on non-bucket style swings; and that you gave the school written notice that she was not to engage in such activities at school or within school time, then YANBU. Otherwise YABU.

I know most are going on the OP's first post but clearly the OP is just struggling to process an awful injury to her child.

OP has already said she won't be suing.

Some kinds words would be nice. Sometimes that's all we need to go forward.

My son had a similar elbow break at school. Surgery, wires the lot. I didn't blame the school. Was just an accident. And at the time Google told me it was the most common type of break because of the way young children fall and outstretch their arms.

So sorry about you daughter but I would have thought it is more her schools responsibility to supervise the children adequately rather than the farms fault?

Im so sorry that your daughter had and accident but it seems like it was just that and accident. All this wanting to sue for everything annoys me. Soon kids will just be made to stay in the classroom which will be padded just in case.

It was a week ago the accident .......and the school are still conducting their investigation.

At this point you have no idea what the investigation will reveal or what the long term prognosis for your daughter is so you have no idea if negligence was a factor or if there is going to be any quantifiable loss for your family. I'd stop listening to the playground lawyers and focus on your little girl's recovery for now and worry about the other stuff later .

Most kids wouldn't want to go on another school trip a week after having an accident. Once she is healed and the memory is fading she may very well feel very differently

Not sure what soft play you take her too where parents stand under their kids waiting to catch them......It sounds very unusual.

OP, your daughter has years and years to make a claim, if it is the case that there was clear negligence (although, honestly, it doesn't sound likely), and the only thing she should do is make sure that you have a copy of any relevant documents that flow from the accident.

I would definitely hesitate to claim against a school in this situation. Whilst I don't add my voice to those yelling 'down with compensation culture' (I think there should be accountability in many cases) I think there is a real risk that teachers just stop taking kids out on trips if claims are made in this kind of case.

I know you've said you won't sue, but that may be in response to this replies on this thread. People always say 'you should sue 'em' without knowing anything about the facts, so with the best will in the world, ignore them. Suing someone won't get her better faster.

This is your little girl, you're tired and worried, but kids do brilliantly at getting over things at that age. DD1 had two similar fractures before she was 6, and she's as right as rain now.

Your little girl going back to school in the most low key, non-dramatic way possible would probably be the best thing, and I'm sure she'll feel lots better soon.

I also understand your distress OP. My DS broke his foot in the playground of a school due to a pot-hole, people told me to sue. No way! Its a school not a private company. He's also anaphylactic and ate something out of someone elses lunchbox and had a bad reaction. The school called me straight away but they couldn't find his epi pen. I was a bit meh about it but there is human error and he loved the school and everyone there. It happens.

Arkwright because she is only 5 and there should've been [b]someone supervising and ready to catch any child that couldn't hold on to whatever it was[/b]

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This is just unreasonable to expect. Sorry, I know this is a hard time for you but honestly...teachers and such supervise more than one child so this is impossible to always have someone there to catch them. Even if it was 1 on 1, they cannot watch the children every second of every day. Has your child ever fell over or hurt herself in any way in your presence? I'm quite sure she has at some point.

Hmm bolding is different here to another forum I am on and I keep forgetting this. Sorry for the messed up post

Sometimes you can fall badly onto what should be a safe surface and hurt yourself. I fell 6ft off a climbing wall onto a thick crash mat and broke my back. I was very unlucky.

A friend of mine owns a soft play area and has to have all sorts of h&s inspections before they could open and now still have regular inspections.

Why don't you go and see the play area yourself? If she fell off something high into bare concrete then yes you might have a claim. Otherwise probably not.

You could maybe contact the local council as well as I believe they're responsible for inspecting soft play areas. Tell them there's been an accident and ask when it was last inspected.

DD1 had an identical injury at school at the same age. There was clear negligence by the school but tbh we didn't even think of sueing. We didn't even complain to the school. We just concentrated on getting DD1 better. At the end of the day, it was an accident, no one hurt her on purpose. Ten years later, she is better and has her feeling back. The scar is there (quite prominent) but that's all. Litigation will just be stressful for you, so I wouldn't recommend it.

All the best for your DD . It's hard to see them suffer.

there should've been someone supervising and ready to catch any child that couldn't hold on to whatever it was

Do you follow her round soft plays? I have never seen anyone follow a 5 years old round a soft play. Maybe a young toddler, not at five.

I don't know any soft play where a child could fall badly enough to break a bone

You could break a bone in any soft play if the child fell and landed in a bad way.
Dh broke his ankle stepping off our decking in the snow. He went over on and it broke. It wasn't unsafe or dangerous. Just one of those things.

You say you don't want to sue for money. You want answers and yet you haven't waited until the head teacher has investigated. You may get the answers you want.

All these people suggesting you sue have no idea what's involved and it's become the automatic response to anything bad that happens.

She fell off something in soft play? That gets filed under 'shit happens'.

Don't sue FFS.

This is the problem with soft play, it's all to flipping soft and safe. ( usually)

Children don't risk assess properly as they don't understand danger the same.

Poor daughter, I hope that she feels better, not sure if I would sue. If it heals then no, if the arm is permanently damaged maybe.

What an awful thing to happen to your DD. Please don't think about suing now - you have 3 years to put in a claim so concentrate on her recovery and looking after yourselves at the moment.

Just to correct some of the points on this thread. You are able to sue for an injury where you don't also have a financial loss. There are published guidelines with a sliding scale setting out what injuries are worth on their own. This ranges from 000,000s for amputation or paralysis to 100 or so for scarring. This payment is in addition to the costs of (for example) modifying a house to make it wheelchair friendly.

If in the longer term, the schools investigations indicate that the equipment was unsafe, or badly maintained or that the school had allowed a large group into an area which wasn't suitable for under-8s then you would be justified in making a claim, it will be dealt with by the insurers and it will take ages.

In the meantime, please take time for you and DD to process the accident and recover and be kind to yourself.

I do feel people automatically pile in to threads like this to whinge on about the compensation culture without thinking it through. Yes, accidents happen - but why should people just suck it up if they were totally avoidable with a bit of sensible care? Would you really shrug your shoulders and suck it up if, say, you received multiple injuries, some permanent, in a car crash caused by someone driving negligently? If so, at what point have you crossed the line between "Not OK to sue" to "OK to sue"?

People say that money won't make up for it. No, it doesn't. You can't make pain or disability unhappen. But it's the best we can do if we cause pain and disability to someone by being negligent.

OP, IF - and I stress if - there was negligence then you should sue. If your DD has had an accident that was foreseeably avoidable by reasonable care on someone's part then she is entitled to compensation for the pain, shock and inconvenience she has suffered, and for the potential permanent damage to her finger. Loss of use of her right hand index finger would, on any interpretation, have a significant effect for the rest of her life. Both the farm and school will have insurance. I suspect that the school and/or the farm have some sort of accident report system, ask for copies.

But be ready to accept the possibility that there just wasn't negligence, or there is no evidence of it, and move on.

Just one point on Hamish's post: as your DD is a child, you have more than three years to make a claim - you have until she is 21.

DS (4) fell over his own feet and broke his wrist. It happens. He went back to school after a week and just stayed in at playtime and was taken to the hall/lunch room before the rest of the class to ensure he wasn't bumped. There is no need to put them in a bubble.

What would you sue for loss of earnings......

Let the school and farm investigate and look at the reports then decide if you want to take it further.
Hope your DD makes a full recovery.

I would persue a claim. You can put the money away for when she is older. The farm/school will have insurance and your dd has a considerable injury. The court can decide if you should get anything and if they settle before court, that's up to them. Plus it might make them review their procedures and prevent another incident