Lawsuit in sledding tragedy

Ottawa Sun ^ | Wed, July 27, 2005 | Sean Meagher

[Stevieboy]

Lawsuit in sledding tragedy
Family of crash victim launches $255G action against City of Gatineau, claiming hill was unsafe

THE FAMILY of a 12-year-old Gatineau boy who died in a sledding accident last winter has launched a lawsuit against the City of Gatineau in the hope that no one else will have to experience what they have lived through.

"It hurts so much when the doctor is telling you that your son is dead following an activity like that, so I don't want no one else to live it," said Francois Lessard, whose son Simon died as a result of head trauma he received after hitting a tree while sledding with a friend on Feb. 5 at Lemoyne Park.

The family is asking for $255,000 -- $100,000 each for both Francois and his wife, France, $25,000 for their daughter, Nathalie, and another $30,000 for pain, suffering and funeral expenses.

TREES DANGEROUS

"We're not doing it for the money, we're doing it for our son," said Lessard.

[lOKKI]

Anybody else notice this in the article?

"...at the time of Simon's sledding accident, there was a sign posted at Lemoyne Park notifying the public that the Brebeuf Hill was not meant for sliding.

I think this suit is simply another case of the parents having to blame someone, anyone for the child's death.

[biggerten]

Prizes to Oberon and Dinsdale. To the rest, sorry, I did not mean to be obtuse.

[Oberon]

"...there was a sign posted at Lemoyne Park notifying the public that the Brebeuf Hill was not meant for sliding."

Nonsense. Any child will tell you that all hills are meant for sliding...it's just that some are crazier than others.

As a kid I broke the top out of a runner sled while forcing the sled to turn tight enough to avoid the barbed-wire-topped fieldstone fence at the bottom of the hill. I was disappointed at having broken the sled, because I really wanted to go again.