Fractured Foot at Gym - would it be worth me persuing this claim?

[MrsGethinJones]

I attended a small group weight lifting class and i was paired up with a girl who was new to the class and seemed
to be new to weightlifting (trainer kept telling her to hold her core, have confidence , and she was a bit unsteady).

we shared a 40kg bar bell and were asked to remove the weights and put them away when we had finished. I removed the 20kg weight from my side however the girl really struggled so i held down the barbell so that she could remove her weight. She shook the weight off with such force that the barbell lifted out kf my hands, fell on my foot and fractured it!

i need to cancel my holiday to San Sebastián next week and will need to take taxis to colllect my daughter from school - cant drive due to injury, single parent.

the gym have sent me the accident report however it doesnt say that we were lifting weights wearing no shoes or that the girl i was working with was new and inexperienced..unsurprisingly

Do you think that this is a claim worth persuing?

I’m not sure because there doesn’t seem to be any negligence on the part of the gym here.

What do you think the gym has done wrong here?
Surely this is just a pure accident?

No I don’t think you have a claim at all.

No

It sounds like an accident. Do you have holiday insurance?

No I don't think there's any basis for a claim.

Why do you need to cancel your holiday?

This was an accident. I doubt you would have a claim.

It's unfortunate and I'm sorry your holiday plans have been disrupted but no, don't claim unless you want to feed the daytime no win no fee ambulance chasers.

Barbells are usually 10kg so unless it was dropped from a great height or you are incredibly fragile/unlucky then I’m finding it hard to believe it’s given you such a significant fracture that you can’t go on holiday.

It was an accident, why is it the Gyms fault?

There must be rules and health and safety policies around the use of weights, surely? I’d assume the trainers are supposed to follow certain procedures as these items are very heavy and can cause serious injuries.

Maybe start by asking to see the gym risk assessment or health and safety policy for weights classes.

Who would you claim against?
I dont see how the gym is at fault so are you claiming against the other participant?

Why did you not have shoes on?

Simply an unfortunate accident.

Op literally said each barbell was 20kg...

Of course you don't. Accidents happen

You need to be able to evidence negligence by the gym. Why was it barefoot? I think you'd struggle with the claim. Are you sure you can't go on holiday? Are you none weight bearing or do you have a boot cast of some kind?

This!… Also, as an adult you are able to make your own decisions. And say that you do not want to work with a beginner.

Each plate was 20kg
If its an Olympic barbell then that could also be 20kg

It's an accident but not negligent on the gyms part. Why did you hold down the barbell? 20kg on one side won't tip the other side off, if you saw her struggling, couldn't you have offered to do it? Failing that, the bar could be tipped up from the weightless side so that the plate ends up on the floor and the barbell vertical.
What I mean is, there were many different ways to do it and it's unfortunate yours ended in an accident, but it's just an accident.

Where was the trainer when this was happening? They should have been supervising someone who had no idea what they were doing.

Did your accident get written in the accident book on the premises at the time?

Could be negligence if the practice was unsafe. If you have household Insurance you may have legal cover, speak to a solicitor.

You certainly need to ask what procedures should be in place with regards to general safety and specifically coaching for inexperienced users to ensure this doesn't happen again.

With regards to a claim, your best bet is probably with a firm of ambulance chasers if you really want to go down that route.

Travel insurance surely covers the trip cancellation?

I can’t visualise how you were holding the barbell. We’re you holding it up vertically so she could shake/slide it off? Why weren’t you wearing shoes?

Sorry - ive probably got the wrong end of the stick with this!

its just that we werw told to remove our shoes and then told to removethe weights without shoes - i thought that the girl who was very unsteady should have been supervised or at least instructed how to remove the weight safely. I donr think id be injured if she had removed the weight safely or if we were wearing shoes. This was the drs opinion and what my old trainer mentioned to me too but I think i should reconsider, given the views here