One mother has settled her Oklahoma playground accident lawsuit seeking damages for the wrongful death of her 9-year-old daughter, Alyssa Avila. The fourth grader died in 2010 after falling from an X-Wave, which is like a teeter-totter that can take numerous riders at once, at her school. The details of the products liability settlement are confidential.
Alyssa fell from the X-Wave while a section of it was in the air. When she stood back up she struck her head on that part as it was coming down. She went into full cardiac arrest. Autopsy reports indicate that she likely died from a severe concussion.
Alyssa’s mom, Cathy Collins, sued X-wave maker Xccent Inc., Noah’s Parks and Playgrounds (which sold the playground equipment to the elementary school), and the Wyandotte School District for her wrongful death.
The X-Wave weighs over 400 pounds. It consists of three steel parts put together. Up to 20 kids can play on it.
Collins contends that the X-Wave is defectively designed because it won’t stop if a child falls from it. This means that if a boy or girl ends up under the equipment, the X-wave will keep moving. She also argued that the equipment doesn’t move in a predictable manner because the weight and height of the kids that are on it will typically vary.
Following Alyssa’s death, several school districts, including the district that her school belongs to, removed the X-Wave from their playgrounds.
Playground Injuries Claims
The Gilbert Law Group® represents children and their families with playground
accident claims against manufacturers and others. About 200,000 playground
injuries happen every year with up to 15 kids dying. These accidents can
happen in public parks, at schools, or on any other property where a playground
has been set up.
Common causes of playground accidents:
• Poorly designed playground layout
• Improper maintenance
• Inadequate supervision
• Defective playground equipment
• Lack of proper protective surfaces
• Concrete, wood, hard-packed dirt, or wood chip flooring
• Soft landing materials that aren’t thick enough
• Poor use zones—not enough space between equipment
• Entrapment hazards
• Entanglement hazards
• Protrusion dangers
• Trip hazards
• Platforms and elevated walking or crawling areas that don’t
have guardrails
To give even more of you a sense of how easily playground accidents can happen, the family of another child, a boy in Maryland, has settled their child injury lawsuit for arm fractures he sustained when he was pushed from a jungle gym at his middle school. His relatives claim that he would have been properly protected if there were retaining panels on the platform.
And in yet another playground accident case, this one involving allegations of inadequate supervision, the California family of one seventh grader has settled their premises liability lawsuit with the school district. The child got hurt during a game of Red Rover during a PE class that they say was not properly supervised. The school district agreed to resolve the playground injury lawsuit for $15,000.
Our playground injury lawyers work with families throughout the US. In some cases, there be may be reasons to pursue damages from more than one party. It is important that you receive compensation for the harm that your son or daughter suffered and that the responsible parties are held liable.
