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Original poster

DD had accident at school - are they at fault?

52 replies

MABS · 29/09/2003 20:53

I'll keep this as brief as I can, but i'd really appreciate any opinions on this.

Last week my dd (8) bumped into another child at school at the corner of the playground. She 'bounced' off the other girl and hit her face on a metal railing. She then skidded, grazed her leg on the playground surface - finally ending up slicing her knee TO THE BONE on the steel baseplate (about 1cm high) of a large strut supporting an outside walkway on the first floor of the school.

She was rushed to hospital where she needed a lot of stitches to the leg, which will scar. The cut on her face is not large but is very prominent and caused 2 haemotoma (sp) which had to be drained. The whole thing has been very distressing for her and today we were told that she will, very prob, need surgeery on the facial scar when she's in her teens.

I'm now wondering if the school are at fault in any way. A friend said she thought those baseplates had to sunk below ground or 'sort of' tarmacced in. The school building is fairly old BTW. I suppose i'd just like to hear any thoughts on the matter and how you'd deal with it if it were your child.

The school have been very concerned about her ,particularly as she'd only been there 10 days! She is now getting rather down and i don't seem to be able to lift her up again. Thanks for listening.

OP posts:
Twinkie · 30/09/2003 09:12

Message withdrawn

janh · 30/09/2003 10:08

It's a private school, Twinkie, so not the LEA.

Cam · 30/09/2003 10:28

Mabs, so sorry about your dd, it's horrid for her and you. Health and Safety laws must apply equally even if it is a private school. No-one can opt out of liability for personal injury. I think you must look seriously at the issue of compensation here as your child is suffering. On a more cheerful note I will say how amazing young children's powers of healing seem to be and I'm sure her injuries will look considerably better after a while. I wish you and your dd all the best for now. Take care, Love Cam xxxxx

Crunchie · 30/09/2003 11:02

I am quite sue that the schools insurance would cover this sort of thing. I know my household insurance has a personal liability section which means if someone fell down my stairs and hurt themselves I am covered!!

Twinkie · 30/09/2003 11:05

Message withdrawn

janh · 30/09/2003 11:14

It's just dealing with the school direct and not the large impersonal LEA.

Twinkie · 30/09/2003 11:28

Message withdrawn

dadslib · 30/09/2003 11:32

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LIZS · 30/09/2003 11:46

mabs, I really feel for you and your dd. How shocking for you all.

Would suggest you contact the Environmental Health dept/ HSE at the local council. They may be able to take action on your behalf and mitigate the amount of your own legal involvement and costs. The school should keep an accident book and have procedures and insurance for dealing with cases such as this.

Hope you get this resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible for everyone's sake.

Blu · 30/09/2003 12:25

Mabs, so so sorry to hear about this, and have been wondering how it is going with you ds orthotic appointments, too....a lot on your plate.

Following what others have said, I think you also need to be clear in your mind what is upsetting you most, and where you think the school may be liable: it sounds (naturally) as if the biggest upset for you and you ds is the injury to her face, and yet it sounds as if the only area in which the school were negiligent or could be at fault is in having such a sharp edge which caused her leg injury. I wonder if there is a difference between INSURANCE for incidents which are smply accidents (your daughter in a collision with another child and ricocheting into a railing...) and NEGLIGENCE re having dangerous features in the playground, as caused the cut to her leg.

I think we need to hear from the more legal Mums, and anyone who works in public liability insurance etc.

Also, may be worth looking through your own insurance policies...quite a few cover injury to you and your family.

I hope your daughter starts to feel better soon.

XXXX

Jimjams · 30/09/2003 13:38

Hoe my supermodel comment didn't sound trivial. What I meant was that I don't think you get much in the way of compensation for "stress and trauma" type stuff, you have to suffer a financial penalty (eg be unable to work etc). Another example my uncle was run over by a van in full view of a policeman. He hasn't worked since- compensation has been peanuts-has taken years and has been a stressful process. Check it out carefully before deciding what to do as you don't want to put yourslef under more stress that could last months. Talk to someone legal though.

Batters · 30/09/2003 16:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

jodee · 30/09/2003 17:51

MABS, how awful for you and your dd. No advice to add, I just hope she recovers quickly. Love J.x

forestfly · 30/09/2003 18:16

Good luck it sounds like a horrible incident to see your daughter go through, remember though its worse for you, she wont remember, and good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Jenie · 30/09/2003 18:18

How terrible for both you and your dd, don't know much about law so can't help but I hope that she recovers soon.

pie · 01/10/2003 07:45

MABS, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your daughter. My DH used to work for one of those ambulance chasers and has said that if you want to contact me by email he can go through with you what happened and if you have a case. You really do need to find out how high about the ground that baseplate is though.

I hope your DD begins to feel better soon.

Original poster
MABS · 01/10/2003 14:34

thanks to all for this advice. I'll keep you posted .
Pie , if you're really sure you don't mind - i'll drop you an email for yr dh later.

OP posts:
pie · 01/10/2003 15:14

Thats fine MABS

Original poster
MABS · 02/10/2003 19:01

well - just to let you know my tale of woes for today...yes sorry girls sorry for myself again.

Can you believe it, her face is swelling again. We went back to the hospital and saw the max-fax consultant. He thinks the haemotoma is recurring. I've now got her back at home with instruction to return on Monday at 9am if I haven't had to go back sooner! He's told me to take her back immediately if the swelling increases, I'm now paranoid and not confident of my own judgement.

The timing is 'great' as i have to be at another hospital tomorrow for my ds to be fitted with splints for his cerebral palsy. Dh is great but doesn't understand that i want to be with BOTH kids, not just one - am I wrong?

OP posts:
janh · 02/10/2003 19:26

Mabs, so sorry to hear this. Of course you want to be there with both of them - let's hope DD doesn't need any further attention till Monday so you can concentrate on DS's splints tomorrow. Hugs {{{}}}

robinw · 03/10/2003 07:36

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Cam · 03/10/2003 11:40

Mabs, course you want to give both your children the attention they need - lets hope that dd's face doesn't get worse so that you can be with ds tomorrow. You have my greatest sympathy - you've got far too many worries at once right now, guess you can only take it a day at a time. Meanwhile take care of yourself and lots of love, Cam xxxxxxxx

janh · 03/11/2003 20:57

Mabs, how is your DD now? What did you decide to do about the school? And how is DS getting on with the splints?

jampot · 03/11/2003 23:35

I work for a firm of injury solicitors - if you want to contact me via contact above I will give you a couple of numbers to try. All PI lawyers work on a No win no fee basis so it won't cost you a penny, they will be able to establish whether you have a case and whether the school is negligent/responsible for your dd's injury. Don't forget, you have until her 21st birthday to start legal proceedings for compensation (hopefully it wouldn't come to that as most claims are dealt with out of Court by negotiation). There's no rush, just take pictures and make sure your daughter knows she's still beautiful.

Tissy · 04/11/2003 09:09

MABS, before contacting a PI solicitor, in my opinion, you need to decide what you want from all this-

do you just want the school to sort out the offending piece of metalwork so that there are no more accidents like this (are you intending that your dd continues to attend this school?)

do you want to sue the school for large amounts of money AND make sure that they sort out the offending piece of metalwork (they may not be so keen to have her there if you've cost them a lot of cash!)

do you want to forget about the whole nasty experience?

I'm asking, because PI lawyers are not in the business for your benefit. They are there to make money out of your lawsuit- you may not pay a penny if you don't win, but a large chunk of your winnings (sometimes most of them) will go to the lawyers if you do. You may end up antagonising the school, and the "atmosphere" may change for your dd.

Clearly, the school needs to be safe, but there may be other ways to ensure that it becomes so, after all a lot of potentially dangerous situations aren't obvious at all, until an accident happens- for example a wobbly paving slab isn't a problem till someone trips on it and breaks an ankle. We would all protest if our Council tax had to go up to pay for all the teams of inspectors needed to make sure all the pavements in the county are completely safe.

I don't intend any offence to jampot, but sometimes lawsuits can cost you more than just money.