A young man who fell off a child’s swing in a Bettystown, Co Meath, playground resulting in paralysed from the waist down as a result of committing what a judge described as a ‘silly act’ has been awarded received €975,000 in personal injury settlement of his High Court action against the owners of a caravan park.
Liam Daly suffered a serious spine injury when he was aged 15 after landing heavily on his back. He had fallen from a swing in a playground at the caravan park where the family’s mobile home was located in Bettystown.
The High Court heard the teenager had been swinging on a swing designed for toddlers and young children. Mr Daly is now aged 20.
Taking the personal injury compensation action through his father John Daly, Mr Daly, with an address at Nephin Road, Dublin 7, sued David, Gerard, Kenneth and Michael Lynch trading as Lynch’s Caravan Park, Bettystown, as a result of the accident on July 24, 2013.
Mr Daly alleged that the cradle seat of the swing was caused to rotate at the maximum arc position and he was thrown off. Additionally, there was an allegation that enough was not done to see that teenagers did not use the swings.
The claims were denied by the legal representatives for Lynch’s who alleged there was contributory negligence by the plaintiff in getting on to a swing which was designed for younger children and unsuitable for someone of his age.
Legal counsel for Mr Daly, Bruce Antoniotti SC, advised the court that said the Daly family had been using a mobile home at the caravan park for 10 years before the accident occurred. Liam had gone to the playground at around 7pm on the day that he sustained his injuries.
He sat on the cradle of the swing in question but, as he swung, he fell back and sustained a very serious spinal injury. He (Liam) is now wheelchair bound. Despite his injuries Mr Daly is able to drive a car and is hopeful of being employed
It stated that the protective matting at the playground was not ‘state of the art’ by Counsel who also deemed this irrelevant as it would not have made a difference whether the matting was state of the art or not.
Mr Justice Cross, in approving the personal injury compensation settlement said in all the circumstances, it was a good settlement. He stated that Liam Daly was just 15 years old at the time of the accident but the outcome of that “silly act” were very serious for him and his family.