Watching your child have an accident, of any kind, fills you with emotions. Fear, concern, horror. There’s that rush of adrenaline as you see it happening in slow motion even as you’re running over to help. It’s a scene you never want anyone to experience.
It’s sad to say that unintentional injuries are the top cause of death in kids in the United States. Within that horrific range of accidents lies those stemming from a piece of furniture, a TV, or an appliance tipping over.
Every 17 minutes, this particular type of accident causes an injury, and it was a frightening day when our client and her family became a part of this statistic.
A holiday and a motel
A mom, dad, 4-year-old son, and 13-month-old daughter headed to Atlanta for vacation. After checking in at a local motel, the parents began bringing in the luggage and setting up the room for their week-long stay.
To keep the kids entertained while they worked, the parents popped on the TV, which was sitting, front-and-center, on top of a dresser. While they busied themselves, their son got curious. He was in a new environment, after all. Walking up to the dresser, the boy pulled out one of the bottom drawers to look inside, and everything changed.
This shift in drawer position brought the entire dresser down, along with the TV on top of it. Both pieces fell forward, onto the little girl, sitting in front. Our client was hit directly on the head and upper body.
A quick reaction
The parents rushed over to their little girl, moving the dresser and TV off from on top of her, but she wasn’t breathing. As she turned blue, her mom called 9-1-1. She began administering CPR with the help of the emergency operator.
Paramedics arrived, but she was still not breathing on her own when the helicopter ambulance took her from the motel to a nearby children’s hospital.
Emergency surgery attempted to reduce the life-threatening brain swelling, but survival remained uncertain. The rest of this little girl’s family had to wait and see, knowing she’d sustained a serious and possibly permanent brain injury, but not knowing what the outcome of the day would bring.
One moment turned an exciting vacation into a terrible nightmare.
Proving negligence
Contacting Watson Injury Law quickly proved the parents’ best defense to the extreme events of the day. Thinking fast, and reaching out to the right legal team, made it possible to preserve the scene of the accident and coordinate with local investigators.
Having immediate access to the scene and being in the loop from the start with the investigation, we were able to prove that both the TV and dresser, in the motel, weren’t installed properly. The dresser wasn’t designed to hold a TV of that size, and neither item was bolted to the wall or secured to each other. It was a house of cards, waiting to fall — an obvious case of negligence.
Living a life that looks much different
Coming out of surgery, the fighting spirit of our 13-month-old client prevailed, and although it was as if she were a newborn again, she’d survive. Time would tell how much functionality she’d recover, but in the interim, the family needed the ability to care for her.
Through attentiveness and hard work, the team at WIL helped the family receive a seven figure settlement. This little client never has to worry about having a home to live in or affording the ongoing medical care she may need. If she’s never able to work, and earn a living, she’ll have the resources to sustain her well-being.
Her ongoing care is covered, the parents won’t have to worry about providing for her, and this family can start again and recover together.
Getting lifetime care when it’s needed most
Not every accident leads to the need for lifetime care, but when negligence is at the heart of your personal injury, you deserve justice. At WIL, our legal team evaluates every case based on its own, unique story. We then begin fighting for you. Our focused, personalized attention takes the stress of dealing with insurance companies and others off your shoulders, giving you time to heal.
We’re here to help clients throughout Georgia, struggling with the impact a single second could have on the rest of their lives. We’ll do what we can to take that fear away. Contact us today for a free consultation.