Can someone advise me please?

kedger25

Hi,i dont know if ive put this in the right place or not!Im after some advice on whether i should sue a pub,the situation is this....
Back in august me,my 2 children,my friend and her 3 children went to a pub/resturant that has a soft play area in it.Weve been there a few times before so we know the layout etc etc.We got there got the kids a drink/coffee.I watched my DS whos 6 and has autisim,speech delay and epilepsy climb up the stairs to the 2nd level and then i couldnt see him,a few seconds later i heard him scream-i went on the apperatus and saw him standing-screaming an holding his arm-he couldnt tell what had happened but to me it looked like hed dislocated his elbow.The girl who was working in the area had followed me up and freaked out when she saw what had happened so i had to ask her to phone 999,i carried him down,by this time he had gone quiet and gon into shock-so had i!My friend then asked for first aid box and lightly put a sling on as Ds,the ambulance arrived along with the manager,who said he was the first aider-altho he didnt do anything,i heard him say to the girl that the accident book needed to be filled out-i dont know if it has been?My friend stayed behind for an hour or so with her children and my DD and she wasnt asked to fill anything out.When we got to the hospital,had xrays etc etc and we found out he had actually dislocated and fractured his elbow so needed an operation:(.,He was down there for 3 hrs.He spent 3 days in hospital.Weve been back and forth to the hospital for various appts,we are back in january to start physio as he still cant use his hand-which is the one he writes with,so he is now also getting behind at school too.Do u think i have grounds to sue??
Many thanks in advance x

kedger25

Also this all happened the day before we were due to go on hols so we also lost that too!!We couldnt claim anything on that tho as i paid with tesco deals!

OlliesDad

Although this does sound like a traumatic experience, i dont think you can hold the restaurant responsible.

Unless you can prove that they were negligent in some way (i.e. he injured himself due to equipment malfunction or poorly maintained) it is a case of "one of those things". Unfortunately it is part of being a child that injuries will happen. My youngest fell up a kerb on the way to nursery and broke a finger, but i wouldn't blame the council for putting the kerb there.

Can your son tell you what happened know that he has calmed down? and is he ok now?

iamana1ias

kedger25 wrote: »

Hi,i dont know if ive put this in the right place or not!Im after some advice on whether i should sue a pub,the situation is this....
Back in august me,my 2 children,my friend and her 3 children went to a pub/resturant that has a soft play area in it.Weve been there a few times before so we know the layout etc etc.We got there got the kids a drink/coffee.I watched my DS whos 6 and has autisim,speech delay and epilepsy climb up the stairs to the 2nd level and then i couldnt see him,a few seconds later i heard him scream-i went on the apperatus and saw him standing-screaming an holding his arm-he couldnt tell what had happened but to me it looked like hed dislocated his elbow.

How? Was the equipment faulty or did he fall over?

kedger25 wrote: »

The girl who was working in the area had followed me up and freaked out when she saw what had happened so i had to ask her to phone 999,i carried him down,by this time he had gone quiet and gon into shock-so had i!My friend then asked for first aid box and lightly put a sling on as Ds,the ambulance arrived along with the manager,who said he was the first aider-altho he didnt do anything,i heard him say to the girl that the accident book needed to be filled out-i dont know if it has been?My friend stayed behind for an hour or so with her children and my DD and she wasnt asked to fill anything out.When we got to the hospital,had xrays etc etc and we found out he had actually dislocated and fractured his elbow so needed an operation:(.,He was down there for 3 hrs.He spent 3 days in hospital.Weve been back and forth to the hospital for various appts,we are back in january to start physio as he still cant use his hand-which is the one he writes with,so he is now also getting behind at school too.Do u think i have grounds to sue??
Many thanks in advance x

If he'd done it falling down your stairs, would you sue yourself? You'd have to prove negligence on the part of the pub i.e. that the equipment was faulty or damaged in some way. Otherwise it is just an accident, and not one that you can make £ out of.

Proc

Is this for real?

In order to sue there needs to be some kind of negligence. The child was in a play area, and an accident occurred. A kid can dislocate their arm on a perfectly flat piece of soft grass if they fall correctly. That doesn't mean that you can sue the owners of the grass for the child's stupidity.

He's had an accident. He probably fell awkwardly. Hopefully he's learned from it.

In terms of the manager not doing anything (despite being First Aider) - well to be honest, I wouldn't expect him to do much for a dislocation. If he put the joint in wrong you would be here wanting more money for that. Always best to let the professionals deal with it.

Basically, you want money for nothing.

kedger25

Thanks for the replies,he cant tell us what actually happened due to hardly having any speech,I understand it was an accident and that these things happen,its just when i tell people about what happened all i get from people is that i should sue,altho im not sure what for IYNWIM.....

Cazza

I would have thought it all depends on exactly what happened in order for him to get such an injury. If there was a barrier missing or a loose rope for example, something which meant the pub was neglient or the play area was unsafe, then yes, you might have an arguement.

Otherwise, accidents happen, children trip over. I'd be surprised if the pub don't have a sign up saying that children need to be supervised at all times to cover these situations. As you didn't see him at the exact point he hurt himself, so I think you'd struggle to say the pub were at fault, as you don't know exactly what happened.

I'm sorry your son was hurt and I hope he's well now!

kedger25

Proc wrote: »

Is this for real?

In order to sue there needs to be some kind of negligence. The child was in a play area, and an accident occurred. A kid can dislocate their arm on a perfectly flat piece of soft grass if they fall correctly. That doesn't mean that you can sue the owners of the grass for the child's stupidity.

He's had an accident. He probably fell awkwardly. Hopefully he's learned from it.

In terms of the manager not doing anything (despite being First Aider) - well to be honest, I wouldn't expect him to do much for a dislocation. If he put the joint in wrong you would be here wanting more money for that. Always best to let the professionals deal with it.

Basically, you want money for nothing.

i DONT want money for nothing and if u was in my postion and had to see the trauma my son has had to go through these past months then ive no doubt u would be askin the same thing,jesus christ,ive come on here to ask for some ADVICE not for a way to make money!!!Hopefully he will have learned from it but due to his autisim and no danger awareness he probably wont

rosie-lee

What an awful experience for you and your son and I hope he fully recovers soon.

If the play equipment was not faulty, I think you will have to put this down to a simple childhood accident. I really don't think that the pub can be held, in any way, responsible.

If anything, and please don't interpret this as a critisism, they are likely to say that that it was your responsibility to ensure your son's safety and not theirs.

Proc

kedger25 wrote: »

i DONT want money for nothing and if u was in my postion and had to see the trauma my son has had to go through these past months then ive no doubt u would be askin the same thing,jesus christ,ive come on here to ask for some ADVICE not for a way to make money!!!Hopefully he will have learned from it but due to his autisim and no danger awareness he probably wont

So if he has no danger awareness don't let him play on climbing frames without being supervised.

You want money for nothing. It's probably your fault, and therefore your problem. Just accept that and move on. Just because my advise isn't what you want to hear, doesn't make it wrong.

Cazza

Proc wrote: »

So if he has no danger awareness don't let him play on climbing frames without being supervised.

You want money for nothing. It's probably your fault, and therefore your problem. Just accept that and move on. Just because my advise isn't what you want to hear, doesn't make it wrong.

I think the OP has been confused by other people? She's said she knows it was an accident but that people have told her she should sue, and she's not sure what she would be suing for! OP, I think this is a case of the people who have been saying this to you not really thinking it through before they say it :rolleyes: Your initial reaction was right, there's not really anything you can sue for.