Family of boy, 10, who nearly drowned and suffered brain damage at Nevada water park will receive $49 million settlement
The family of a boy who nearly drowned and suffered disastrous injuries in a wave pool at Cowabunga Bay in Nevada has received a $49 million settlement, reports said.
Leland Gardner, who was 6 years old at the time of the incident, had gone on a playdate with his friend and his friend's father when he was plunged in the water for a "lengthy period of time" at the Henderson water park in May 2015. Leland was not sporting a life jacket when he went into the wave pool. According to the lawsuit he "fell off his inner tube".
His parents Peter and Christian Gardner filed a civil lawsuit in Clark County District Court claiming that there weren't enough lifeguards present at duty when their son was submerged underwater.
The settlement received by Las Vegas Review-Journal, states that the attorneys in the cased agreed that over the past four years, investigations displayed liability against Henderson Water Park LLC for negligence.
According to 8newsnow, the now 10-year-old's legal team alleged that just three lifeguards who were present at duty during the time of the incident, while Donald Campbell the attorney claimed that the lifeguard plan submitted by the waterpark in 2014 called for six lifeguards at Cowabunga Bay’s Surf-A-Rama Wave Pool during that time.
Later, Southern Nevada Health District claimed that at least 17 lifeguards should have been on duty at the Surf-A-Rama Wave Pool. Inspections that were done at the park later revealed that they didn't have sufficient lifeguards at the water feature.
Leland's parents claimed that as a result of neurological damage, their son was admitted to the hospital for a number of weeks. He suffered from a hypoxic and anoxic brain injury which damages the flow of oxygen around his body. The settlement claims that Leland now needs to be taken care of round-the-clock and is fed through a tube in his stomach.
To date, over $900,000 has already been spent on Leland's medical bills. The settlement stated that the doctors shared that further costs over the duration of his life will range between $40 million and $59 million.
Though the Defense attorneys claimed that Leland was rescued by a lifeguard within 15 seconds, the prosecution claimed that the seriousness of his brain damage reveals that the kid was submerged underwater for several minutes. Lawyers for the water park told the court in July that Leland could have had a heart attack while he was swimming, they claimed that there was no proof that it was the lack of lifeguards that caused the incident, 8newsnow reported.
Campbell then argued that the kid had no issues with his heart previously. He also stated that the lifeguard at duty signed a form of certification after the accident.