Esther Nakajjigo: Trial begins for woman beheaded by metal gate in Utah National Park as family seeks $140M
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH: More than 2 years after a woman was killed in a Utah national park, her husband and her family are suing the US government for $140 million in damages. On a windy spring day in 2020, Ludovic Michaud and his newlywed wife, Esther Nakajjigo, who was an actress and singer from Uganda, were traveling through Arches National Park when Nakajjigo was decapitated by a metal gate that swung through the car's passenger door, reported New York Post.
The civil trial got underway on Monday, December 5 with opening statements from the lawyers for Michaud and Nakajjigo's family. They contend that the US Park Service neglected to maintain the gates at the parks' entrances and exits, and Nakajjigo died as a result. “She was one in a billion, Your Honor,” attorney Randi McGinn told the judge. “She had like a tremendous potential,” Michaud told the TV station of his late wife. “She could lift mountains, basically, in her own way. I don’t want this incident to reproduce itself ever again," as per the news outlet.
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The US attorneys agree that park officials are to blame, but they argued the family should receive far less money—$3.5 million—and questioned the methods used to determine the damages sought. "If Nakajjigo's life had not been cut short", McGinn claimed, "she would have gone on to become the CEO of a non-profit organization and could have eventually earned an annual salary in the hundreds of thousands or millions", as per reports New York Post.
More than 1.5 million people yearly visit the 120 square mile desert area that makes up Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. It is well-known for a collection of sculpture-like fins and arches carved out of an orange sandstone over many years by wind and water. In the upcoming weeks, the judge is anticipated to render his decision.
According to a wrongful death administrative claim acquired by NBC News exclusively, Esther Nakajjigo was "needlessly decapitated" on June 13, 2020, when a metal gate swung into the couple's car as they were leaving the Arches parking lot on their way to have ice cream.
Who was Esther Nakajjigo?
Nakajjigo, sometimes known as Essie, was an advocate for women's rights in Uganda. At the age of 17, she founded a nonprofit community health center using the money she had saved up for college. Nakajjigo was appointed as Uganda's ambassador for women and girls in the same year. She developed two reality television programs that emancipated women since she was especially committed to lowering teenage pregnancies. One, 'Saving Innocence', had young women from urban areas assisting young mothers in rural places in returning to school. With numerous accolades and awards from around the world, Nakajjigo came to the United States to further her education. As a Mandela Washington Fellow at Drexel University in Philadelphia, she took part in programs there. She also received a Luff Peace Fellowship from the Watson Institute in Boulder, Colorado, as per NBC News.
