My Child Was Severly Hurt at School.

I was volunteering at my daughter's school and fractured my foot in several places during their recess (walking backwards, looking out for the kids, and stepped wrong from the sidewalk to the grass).
I would never sue them for what was my error, even though I went to the ER, an orthopedist, had an MRI (to rule out surgery), and had physical therapy. Granted, I have insurance, but accidents happen. What would I say - make your grass level with the sidewalk? Until we levitate, life is a tripping hazard.

It wasn't like a bookcase fell on him or some other kind of negligance act on the school's part.

I STRONGLY feel that a part of a parent's responsibility is to carry insurance - if not for them, then for their children.

Would you sue the city if he tripped over a tree root at the park? Or a trail?

Would you sue your sister if he tripped over a tree root in her yard?

You see where I'm going with this, right?

I feel badly that this happened and you have no insurance, but I don't believe you can stand to gain anything. You son walked through the grass and tripped over a tree root. That shows no negligence from the school. Tree roots are not negligent actions from the school, they just aren't. Schools are not required to cut down trees and remove roots, that might be exposed. Kids are also supposed to walk on designated sidewalks. I'm sorry, but this was an accident, no one is at fault.

The school (and aversely, tax-payers who fund the schools) are not and should not be liable for your son's accident just because you choose not to carry insurance for him. Bad things happen. People get sick. It's inevitable. Will you always find someone to sue? A friend of mine fell at Wal-Mart and broke her knee cap. It wasn't wal-mart's fault that someone had left something sitting on the ground for her to trip on. Should she have sued them? It wasn't the school's fault that a tree root grew above the ground, and it wasn't their fault that your son chose not to walk on the sidewalk.

It's not your son's fault...it's the schools right? Ummm, no. How the hell do you break an arm when it just hit a root? Sounds like a lie to me.

You can't expect someone else to pay your medical bills just because you don't have insurance. The hospital has to take whatever you can pay...set up a payment plan...even if it's only $20 they have to take it. They don't charge interest, so take your time paying it if you have to.

Gotta love America...it's always someone else's fault.

Sorry...hope your son is feeling ok.

Doesn't the state of LA have an insurance policy for the children that are not covered? I always throw those brochures away because we have insurance, but it seems like this is why they schools send out these papers, so that the children who do not have insurance will be covered on the school grounds.
So if you opted to not get him the insurance from the school, then they are probably not liable for his accident. I know I have had to sign papers stating that I have insurance and that I decline their policy.
Also if he was not following the stated rules....stay on the sidewalk, no running and fell, then it was his fault. Why should the school pay?

Yeah - ummm, first I going to recommend the lawyer. Every state is different about 1) public entities and 2) liability for property maintenence issues such as tree roots.

But second - based on your SWH, I feel pretty strongly that your kid is lying. Lieing? He is being dishonest.

Adults and teenagers fall all the time, where did the extraordinary force come from to break an arm in 3 places? I understand he tripped, and spun....but that can only be with the force of gravity. The force of gravity from a standing position isn't strong enough to break bone.

Given that your/his answer is likely "it was a freak accident", I concur that those do happen. To a 14 year old boy who tripped, then spun, then tripped again - no.

i think some people are reading this as a landscape company left a stump half there...if I read it right, he tripped over the roots of the tree. You realize there are roots of trees everywhere and the school isn't going to cut all of the trees down J. in case a kid trips, or remove the slide in case a kid falls off the back. If they were negligent they'd have to pay, it doesnt seem the school was responsible and as sucky as it is your kid got hurt =( it's not their financial responsiblity

I am not sure what you want. The school is not responsible if your child chooses to cut across the grass and not pay attention to tree roots when he could have taken the side walk.

You can't make them be responsible just because you don't carry health insurance.

Bullsh*t if they're not responsible. If they own the property, they are responsible.

Ask them for their insurance information or how to submit a claim. They HAVE to provide the information.

If I were you, I would go to the school and take a photo of that tree root sticking out up before they remove the tree and act like you've lost your mind!

I don't think its the schools fault. It was an accident.

Earlier this year I was in the perfect position to sue had I wanted to. I had surgery and the surgery went terribly wrong. A piece of medical equipment that was used on me (a surgical clamp) failed and caused a massive leak in my abdomen. I developed sepcis and almost died. I was in the hospital twice and needed 4 procedures to correct the leak. Did I sue the hospital? No. Did I sue the doctor? No. Did I sue the medical company that made the clamp? No. It was an ACCIDENT and it accidents happen. Everyone told me to sue, but I did not. I healed and I am healthy now and I am not trying to jump on the sue bandwagon. I have good insurance but I still had a lot I owed in copays but I paid them. I think it's a parents responsibility to have health insurance on their children. If you can't afford insurance there are assistance programs out there to help you. I'm sorry your son got hurt and I hope he heals quickly but I don't think the school is at fault. And I doubt you are going to get a penny from them. Good luck.

I am going to just throw this in there for what it is worth...

My SIL works for a large personal injury law firm. Sometimes they represent the injured and sometimes they represent those being sued by people who claim to be injured.

They always end up having experts show...a lot of the time by computer graphics...exactly how the injury occurred. They routinely end up finding that the accident/injury could not have occurred the way the person is claiming it did...

So if you are going to pursue this make sure that your son is telling you the whole truth about exactly how the injury occurred and where it occurred. The attorneys will find out if he is not telling the whole truth.

My SIL ended up with a client who was claiming broken bones from a fall on a slippery concrete floor and wanting to sue the business. When the experts looked at the injury and the place where she fell, etc etc etc...turned out the only way enough force could have been applied to incur the injury was if she was in a car accident or something similar. Turns out she did fall at the business it was documented by witnesses...but later that night got intoxicated and was in a car accident.

The law firms with double and triple check your son's injury and story to make sure they all match up...

And next year pay for the supplemental insurance that is included in the send home packet at the beginning of the year. My mother did every year and we never used it until high school...a girl dropped a heavy object on my foot, it broke bones and did damage...the insurance more than paid for itself after seeing all the doctors involved. My mother's motto was better safe than sorry...so she got that extra insurance for injures at school. (one injury and it more than paid for itself including all the years it was never needed.)

Was the content of your post changed? I see a few references to landscape work and leaving stumps around but your what happened looks like he tripped over a tree root? I grew up where there were lots of trees (the town is partly in a forest and partly in a meadow), very common that there were tree roots at the surface and sticking above ground and don't think they are completely avoidable without a lot of work and compromising the tree.

If it were my daughter I don't know that I would expect the school to pay as it seems like an unfortunate accident. Very Very unfortunate, considering the degree he was hurt and in know way am I discounting that!. I certainly wouldn't want schools to start ripping out trees because people could trip on the roots and sue the schools......

Contact the school district. Go above the school itself. Someone should be held responsible since this accident was caused by them leaving stumps left during some landscaping work.

Are you wanting help because you don't have insurance?

If you don't have insurance available, you may qualify for medicaid or government assistance. You also may qualify for a sliding scale from the Drs and Hospitals. Sometimes hospitals have a certain number of patients they can write off and provide medical care at no cost.

If you have insurance available and opted not to purchase, then I'm not sure what to tell you.... that's a risk. And I get it.... insurance is expensive and healthcare is expensive even if you HAVE insurance. You're actually lucky the hospital operated on him even without you having insurance. Sometimes they won't unless it's life saving care.

Or are you wanting help because the school was at fault and failed to provide a safe environment / path for your son to get to/from classes?

We aren't really qualified to give you that kind of advice....
I would call an attorney and find out if you have any legal recourse, if the school can be proven negligent or liable for failure to provide sidewalks or if someone else has been hurt and they didn't remove the tree root.

A tree root was sticking out of the ground on the sidewalk? Or on the playground? Or just in the yard? They aren't responsible if it is somewhere he needn't have been walking. However, if he was walking on the designated path, I think you could call a lawyer, because it is the school's responsibility to make sure your son has a safe path to class. If he was not on the designated path, you're out of luck.

First, it does sound like there should be more to the story (like maybe he and a friend were playing around or there a some shoving going on). Second, even if it happened exactly as stated, if it happened in your yard what would you do?
Third, when I was in school (and my kids who now are) it was always indicated that there was "school insurance" offered for parents to purchase which to me meant that the school didn't cover the kids although I would think that they would HAVE to have some sort of coverage.
Fourth, just because it is "the paren'ts responsibility to have insurance for their kids" as another poster stated and there are programs...if you make too much to qualify, you don't necessarily have the means to otherwise purchase coverage...you can be $5 over but I guarantee that $5 won't buy the coverage you need.
Last, but not least, you can go to the district office with your rationale for why they should help w/ the costs but even if they don't help you should contact the providers and see what "adjusted rate" they can offer (since most have an insurance rate, they are often willing to offer it to those without coverage as well...in my opinion that should just be the rate but I guess they do it this way so it looks like you are "getting a break") and then make payments.

I can see your point of view, and I also see the schools. The school should have taken care of the stump. Your son should pay more attention to where he is walking.

I would think the school is liable for at least part of the medical bills. If you feel adamantly about it, and the principal is getting you no where, try the superintendent. If you're still not resolving the issue, contact a lawyer.

Hope your son is feeling better!

The school DOES have insurance for this. Get an attorney. You will need it.

Dawn

Tree roots and falls are part of life. It doesn't seem like the school was negligent and where I live there are tree roots that could cause a fall EVERYHERE. So much so that the town I live in had an ordinance against women wearing high heels just to avoid a lawsuit.
The healthcare situation in this country sucks but somewhat affordable catostrophic insurance is available.
Our family of four rarely needs medical attention so we pay about $400 per month to protect us in case of a big medical bill. It's a high deductible but they pay everything after that so in cases like yours it would just be a few thousand dollars total.
Accidents and disease happens. If there is anyway you can afford a few hundred dollars a month you should get insurance just for the piece of mind.
If you cannot afford insurance, even a few hundred a month is steep for many. You are the perfect example of why we need universal healthcare in this country!

My son had a partial amputation of his fingertip when a stone bench in the classroom fell on him - no fault of his at all according to teacher and all witnesses. We tried to file a claim with their insurance and were denied. We could have sued, we actually had a case according to an attorney friend, but decided not to pursue it because son was ok and they were able to reattach the fingertip. You might want to do a little research to see if it's even allowable to file a claim against or sue the school; we were barred here.

Accidents happen anywhere, anytime on any clock. How old is your child? Why was he outside walking to a class? In elementary school, the outside time is recess time. Only in Senior high school (grades 11-12) are there open campuses where students walk from one building to another.

We do have insurance but every August at the beginning of the school year, there is a cheapo accident policy sold and I buy it for my daughter because it is extra coverage for us. For someone with no insurance it is good accident coverage, manyn times lower than $100 for a school year total.

What do you expect from the school? Are you trying to sue them for medical plus anything that pops up in the future? How are you communicating with the school? If you are communicating with a harsh tone, etc you won't get as far.

Take emotions out of your decisions. Gather all info and proceed with facts. When people make decisions based on emotions, things can easily backfire.

For instance, I have a friend who is a well known attorney. Her client was in a minor car accident but took care of all costs involved with the other person. The other person wanted more, more, more and refused all communication until a jury heard the case. Well, the jury heard the case. Within 5 minutes of deliberation, they came back and awarded the guy suing $1. Why $1 you ask? Because that prevents him from being able to appeal, he was given his choice of a trial by jury.

I am not saying in anyway you are going after money from the school district. Some people would. Just be realistic and leave emotions out of your decisions.

More than likely I should have read the other answers, I am sure you know by now, if you have gone to the Superintendent of Schools & have got -0- help it's time for an attorney, you can watch on the TV for one who advertises (they are pretty bloodthirsty & you don't have to pay for any out of pocket until the case has settled) or you can call the Bar Association in your area & they will refer you to the type of attorney you will need, if you choose to go this route start at the TOP, the big $$$ guys, if they feel you don't have a case that is going to give you the $$$ they sue for they will, in turn refer you to the next office down & so forth. I went to two other firms until I got my referral to the attorney who handled my Mal-Practice suit years ago. Be prepared for a drawn out fight, this type of case generally goes back & forth several times over the course of about two years prior to either a settlement or court.

Good Luck to you & your son, my heart goes out to you both!

I would say contact a personal injury attorney. The school should have insurance to cover this. If he was not on their property it may fall on the city or someone private. I would think if it was a hazard for children in an area they frequent it would be their responsibility.

If you do not have insurance consider getting a state medical card for your children so they can receive proper medical and dental care. They will pursue this charge and the state has more clout, it may even be that they will go back or a couple of months and cover this bill entirely too.

It is usually like that in my state. If you go apply for the kids and qualify then they will go back a couple of months if there are excess bills and the might pay it all.

It can't possibly hurt.

There should not be any tripping hazards at the school, period. What if there was an emergency at the school and all the kids had to run away from harm, they would not all fit on the "designated" sidewalk and would have to run through the grass, therefor there should not be any tree roots sticking out ANYWHERE. Someone said "you can't expect the school to cut down all the trees" NO....but you CAN expect them to maintain the grassy areas free of roots. I think you have a case, contact a good personal injury lawyer.

I agree that I am not sure what help they will give you. We too get the student insurance booklet at the beginning of the school year. We usually decline because we have good insurance.

They could claim negligence on your son's part since he should've been on a sidewalk and not cutting across the grass.

You may be able to talk to someone at the Health Dept. They may be able to help lower the dr. costs.

I'm an insurance agent in AZ. Most schools are "self insured" and they of course don't want to pay this and will tell you no. The schools MUST provide a safe envioroment for our kids. Visable roots are NOT safe. They can be dug out by a landscaper or the entire tree can be removed. You will need to get an attorney to pursue this. Good luck.