Families take their children to playgrounds all the time. What they don’t count on happening is their children having an accident while playing. Unfortunately for one family, this is exactly what happened back in September of 2014 when a young girl was injured “when she fell on a metal spike at a Lawndale park playground” in Chicago. The accident resulted in the spike striking her forehead, opening a gash over her right eye. Though the accident happened a few years ago, the Chicago Park District board is considering a $100,000 settlement for the child.
Families take their children to playgrounds all the time. What they don’t count on happening is their children having an accident while playing. Unfortunately for one family, this is exactly what happened back in September of 2014 when a young girl was injured “when she fell on a metal spike at a Lawndale park playground” in Chicago. The playground accident resulted in the spike striking her forehead, opening a gash over her right eye. Though the accident happened a few years ago, the Chicago Park District board is considering a $100,000 settlement for the child.
The accident happened when the three-year-old child, B’Nai Brown, went on a harmless trip to the playground “in the 700 block of South Springfield Avenue” with her grandmother. Not long into their visit, the child’s grandmother heard her scream and when she looked over, the girl had a cut on her head. According to the family’s attorney, Timothy Keiser, B’Nai had to get five stitches because of the accident and might need cosmetic surgery later down the road. “That’s probably the best-case scenario,” he said. “It’s not near as bad as it could have been.”
How did the accident even happen in the first place? Why was there a dangerous metal spike anywhere near a playground? Well, when the city’s Park District replaced the old playground equipment with new equipment, Keiser claims they “failed to remove a metal pole sticking out about 14 inches from the ground with a jagged edge.” How in the world did they forget to remove the spike? According to Keiser and a Park District document, it was “located in a highly trafficked area of the playground.” It’s actually a miracle the accident wasn’t more severe, or that other children hadn’t harmed themselves on it.
As for more details about the settlement, Keiser said, “any money awarded to Brown would go into a protected minor’s account in which court approval is required to access the funds to pay for medical expenses until the girl turns 18.”
One would think that after being alerted to the spike that the Park District would respond and have it removed. Seems like common sense, right? Nope. The dangerous spike wasn’t actually removed until January 2015, even though the spike was reported to the Park District about a month after Brown’s accident. When asked about the spike, the Park District declined to comment.
Sources:
Chicago Park District to Consider $100,000 Settlement for Playground Injury
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