Daughters had an Accident on Friends Trampoline!!! Now What???

jamespir

not being funny its got sod all to do with your parents and freinds its between you and your freind who house it was it was an accident these things happen

what next sue you freidn because your child broke the strap on her 60.00 pound trainers no dont be silly
just take it as an unpreventable accident and tell everyone else to get on with there own lives

splishsplash

It's a tough one, I'll give you that!

On the one hand, if it were my daughter, I wouldn't say NO to suing until I knew what the eventual outcome would be, and you have no way of knowing that until a few months have passed. A loss of full extension at the elbow is unlikely to matter very much in the grand scheme of things, and scars fade quickly in a small child.

On the other hand, if I knew a parent was considering legal action against a friend for this type of accident, I wouldn't let their children inside my door... I wouldn't be too keen on mine going to theirs either.

While I'm sure your parents think they are acting in your daughter's best interests, their attitude is extremely unhelpful at the moment. I would ask them to give you some space to deal with the immediate problem of looking after your daughter.

I hope your daughter feels better soon.

jamespir

splishsplash wrote: »

It's a tough one, I'll give you that!


On the other hand, if I knew a parent was considering legal action against a friend for this type of accident, I wouldn't let their children inside my door... I wouldn't be too keen on mine going to theirs either.



.

what a stupid thing to say thyre not dangerous it was an ACCIDENT if you have a na atttidue like that im suprised anyone lets there kids come to your house in fact im quite suprised youve even got kids

pinkshoes

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

Pinkshoes you normally give great advice, but saying her daughter may be 'proud' of the scars? I think not!!! Some kids these days are having surgery to remove birthmarks etc and these are naturally occurring so i am sure they can do without adding scars!! Also, tell my niece that when she spent months in hospital when she, as a toddler, pulled boiling water from an oven and scarred all her legs (again playing unsupervised)

I have a nasty scar on my leg from being burnt when I was little (it was an accident, not my fault, but no my parents didn't sue the people looking after me!!), and I'm honestly quite proud of my scar!!

I also still know the person "responsible" and if ever it comes to the last bacon sandwich or biscuit, I just point to the scar and cough loudly ! (They know I'm just being sarcastic and joking!)

Birthmarks are boring - they have no story behind them!

Almo

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

OK, it is all well and good people saying don't sue and your friend saying she feels bad about it. My question would be:

why was she not supervising?

Was it a momentary lapse? ie did she nip to the loo or was she letting them get on with it while she did something else?


She isn't the greatest friend if she left them playing unsupervised. Paid or not she accepted the responsibility of looking after your most cherished possession and if your child is going to suffer because of this long term then perhaps some monetary value should be awarded.

Accidents happen in a split second. She could have been right there; it wouldn't have made a difference.

I have injuries in both hands from accidents. One was at a friend's house when I was younger, and one was when I was at uni. I used to work in a personal injury law firm and I know I could have sued for both of them. One of them has, in fact, left me with slightly limited use of my right hand - and I'm right handed. I cope perfectly well.

If the friend is negligent for the accident, to my mind you (OP) are negligent for leaving your daughter with someone apparently unsuitable to care for a child.

I do realise that you are upset and shaken but I am surprised litigation has even been mentioned. You live in a country which has the NHS! If it had been America, and there were huge medical bills then perhaps it would be understandable but I really can't see why your friend should have to suffer so much for your OH's decision to leave your daughter there.

Stories like this make me less and less likely to ever offer to babysit for any friends and family.

*Chattie*

jamespir wrote: »

what a stupid thing to say thyre not dangerous it was an ACCIDENT if you have a na atttidue like that im suprised anyone lets there kids come to your house in fact im quite suprised youve even got kids

I think you need to actually read the post you are quoting. They are not saying anything is dangerous but would you want to have the children of the OP in your house incase they had another accident, I know I wouldn't.

Zara33

OP thankyou for telling your story...I will make sure no other kids apart from my own are ever on our trampoline. :eek: I certainly couldn't afford an accident.

jamespir

*Chattie* wrote: »

I think you need to actually read the post you are quoting. They are not saying anything is dangerous but would you want to have the children of the OP in your house incase they had another accident, I know I wouldn't.

yer cause at the end of the day it was a na ACCIDENT if the freind had beaten the child thn i perhaps would think twice

Saint_Chris

i agree it was an accident, an unfortunate one, but an accident at that.

Imagine how your friend feels, yes she may have turned her back for a min, but how many of us do, and in that split second, an accident could happen.

I probably would have had the kids on the tampoline, and been sat on the patio watching them, but how quick would it have been for a child to bounce off and fall, they would have been on the floor before i could get to them. But being fair to your friend she did have the netting around, many don't.

Also you was prepared to leave your daughter with someone who isn't qualified to look after her. And if you decided to claim, your going to be hit with all sorts of questions like this.

But do you really need all the stress that this will bring you?, your already stressed out about this now, imagine how you will feel once you start the ball rolling.

As others said your friend will no longer be your friend, your child will have no friends, sad to say but this will happen, remember kids can be cruel.

As for your parents, if the accident had happened in there back garden on their trampoline, would they have been advising you to sue them, i guess not.

It is your child and it is up to you to make the decission.

Good luck in what you decide to do, but i do know what road i would be going down.

mountainofdebt

I've just read 'Handle with Care' as it deals with these sorts of issues (not in the same situation granted, but deals with the fallout of friends suing friends).

OP - to be honest I think you need to tell everyone to butt out and you'll decide what to do when everyone is less emotional and the full medical facts are known. What does your friend say about the accident - does she know everyone is encouraging you to sue?