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

Milford_Cubicle

Your time will be better spent campaigning to have trampolines in domestic gardens banned or at the very least, laws passed to say that all trampolines MUST be sold with a protective outer net and this net doesn't fasten with velcro, instead it's of a design where the child has to squeeze through the middle, much like a pair of curtains which are crossed over and secured at the top and bottom.

I have a real thing about trampolines and I refuse to buy one for my daughter. I spent a year working in A&E...if I had £1 for every child (and adult!) brought in due to a garden trampoline accident, I probably would be able to afford a decent holiday!

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox now...it's a subject very close to my heart :rotfl:

To the OP: Please encourage your parents not to sue your friend. It was an accident, plain and simple. Yes, perhaps she was negligent in that she wasn't watching your 3 year old like a hawk but we all know kids get into scrapes and inevitably end up broken, bruised, swollen and bleeding. It's all part of growing up! I'm sure she feels utterly terrible about the whole thing and I know that your daughter certainly won't blame your friend, she'll blame the naughty trampoline!

I do hope your daughter mends quickly, children are surprisingly flexible and heal very well

Lunar_Eclipse

loobylou2 wrote: »

I might also have a word with my friend about the situation, explain that I"m not blaming her and its nothing personal and try to find out where she would stand on something like this.

If you do that, my advice is not to use the word 'sue' at all; it implies that you are holding her responsible. In fact I would stop using it right now to avoid a freudian slip.

If you want to this and clearly there are ramifications in doing and possibly in not doing so, I suggest approaching it from a medical standpoint; that your daughter is likely to need (is she?) further (privately funded) operations/therapy to give her the most use from her arm and you have been advised that a claim on their household insurance could help financially. In some ways I could see this as being a reasonable argument, despite finding myself in the 'accidents happen and don't sue' camp. Maybe in this instance it is what the insurance is for, although I had no idea household insurance would cover personal accidents. Does it?

If your focus is purely on your daughter's arm then it's clearly too early to start discussion in this area since I would suspect you need further medical opinion on what treatment might be needed. She might heal brilliantly over the next 2-4 weeks. Miracles do happen. I have had a similar "arm in a mess" prognosis on myself at the age of 13 from a bike accident, which turned out fine.

Hope your daughter gets better soon.

As a final thought, is compensation really likely to help your daughter's arm? Not sure what treatments you have been advised might be needed and what they cost (can you afford them?), but clearly this is the starting point if you're considering it for more than a second.

lcazma70

Advise?
A)You have a back bone use it
B)Every action you take should be with your daughters best interest at heart
C)She is learning from your actions how to relate to others (both family and friends)
D)Even consideration of suing your friend smacks of ingratitude and greed so dont fool yourself its anything else
E)The impact of this event will have very long lasting implications for all of your children
F)You have a backbone use it
I genuinely wish you all the best. You have been lucky to find such a caring friend throwing her friendship away would indicate that you need to find that out the hard way. By the way who will step in to support your lifestyle now once your 'friend' realises the action you are considering. I am absolutely stunned

bestpud

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Trampolining accidents can be REALLY serious. For a 3 year old a fall from a trampoline is a long way. There have been cases of people suffering broken backs, necks, and brain injury from accidents on trampolines, and not just children - I personally know a female adult who broke her back in a fall from a trampoline, admittedly one without safety netting.

Personally I would never let another person's child on a trampoline unless they were present to take responsibility for their own child. But that's just me.

Like someone else on here, I am seriously starting to think about banning other children from mine too!

A few money grabbers is all it takes to spoil things for many!

alwaysonthego_2

loobylou2 wrote: »

Can I please make it clear to everybody that I DO NOT WANT TO SUE!!!! The thought hadn""t even occurred to me until I got a phone call at the hospital from my parents on saturday telling me that if I didn"t take legal action against my friend they would. Will people please read my original post before you start making judgments against me. Its bad enough that my daughter has been hurt without people making me out to be something I"m not. I just want to do the best for my daughter and am certainly not wanting to make money out of my friend for something which was an accident.

I have read your posts

loobylou2 wrote:

Think the best thing for me to do would be to perhaps get some independent legal advice, my employers offer an assistance scheme so I think I"ll give them a ring and see what they suggest I do

bestpud

loobylou2 wrote: »

Can I please make it clear to everybody that I DO NOT WANT TO SUE!!!! The thought hadn""t even occurred to me until I got a phone call at the hospital from my parents on saturday telling me that if I didn"t take legal action against my friend they would. Will people please read my original post before you start making judgments against me. Its bad enough that my daughter has been hurt without people making me out to be something I"m not. I just want to do the best for my daughter and am certainly not wanting to make money out of my friend for something which was an accident.

Why are you seeking legal advice then?

*Chattie*

So how much money will be the best for your daughter?

Errata

Will anyone have to take time off work to look after the little girl when she's in hospital and after she comes out? Will that mean a loss of pay ?
Will the little girl benefit from more physio than the NHS will give her ? What would that cost and who would pay for it?

I'm not suggesting litigation, but there may be costs involved which are beyond the OP's means.

bestpud

Milford_Cubicle wrote: »

Your time will be better spent campaigning to have trampolines in domestic gardens banned or at the very least, laws passed to say that all trampolines MUST be sold with a protective outer net and this net doesn't fasten with velcro, instead it's of a design where the child has to squeeze through the middle, much like a pair of curtains which are crossed over and secured at the top and bottom.

I have a real thing about trampolines and I refuse to buy one for my daughter. I spent a year working in A&E...if I had £1 for every child (and adult!) brought in due to a garden trampoline accident, I probably would be able to afford a decent holiday!

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox now...it's a subject very close to my heart :rotfl:

To the OP: Please encourage your parents not to sue your friend. It was an accident, plain and simple. Yes, perhaps she was negligent in that she wasn't watching your 3 year old like a hawk but we all know kids get into scrapes and inevitably end up broken, bruised, swollen and bleeding. It's all part of growing up! I'm sure she feels utterly terrible about the whole thing and I know that your daughter certainly won't blame your friend, she'll blame the naughty trampoline!

I do hope your daughter mends quickly, children are surprisingly flexible and heal very well

I've heard others say this too, but when I weigh it against the daily enjoyment (all year round) my dd gets from her trampoline, I think it is a risk worth taking and would no want them banned altogether.

cheepskate_2

op what are you going to get at best. A few thousand

You will not get huge amounts due to her maybe being disabled by this, as this is just the worse case senario, and in all probability she will recover fine.

What will you loose. LOADS. Parents talk as others have said and expect your child not to be invited over to play, invited to parties, you invited to be best friends with anyone, you name it you will be excluded where possible.

She may only be 3 so not have a large friend base like they do in school, but think of the future and how this will impact on her.

No matter how nice a person is this will be at the front of everything if she goes to anyone's house.