Unsafe Playgrounds – Closed Head Injuries
According to the Consumer Product Commission, in recent 
years, it is estimated that there were more than 200,000 injuries annually on public playgrounds across the country that required emergency room treatment. Many of these injuries are due to poorly designed and defective playgrounds and equipment.
We represented a young boy who suffered a serious closed head injury (a hard blow to the head from striking an object, but the object did not break the skull) when his head struck a concrete curb that ran down the middle of the playground.
Instead of designing an appropriate playground space, the defendant constructed the playground over a preexisting parking lot including a dangerous concrete curb. The placement of this unreasonably dangerous tripping hazard in the middle of the playground violated several building codes and playground safety guidelines.
As a result of striking his head, the young boy suffered a subdural hematoma (a collection of blood on the surface of the brain and depending on severity can be life threatening) for which he spent several days in the ICU at the Delray Trauma Center. Neuropsych testing (testing that examines a child’s mental abilities – cognitive functioning, considering abilities such as intelligence, language, visual-motor skills, memory, attention and organizational skills) suggests a decline in functioning in his verbal abilities, and he continues to exhibit symptoms of a closed head injury, including an inability to stay focused.
Our client sought treatment and his long-term prognosis is unknown. Contact 5 Special Report interviewed our client – click here to view interview.
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