By Ellen Rugeley
The mother of a ten-year-old boy has filed a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Canada, seeking $1.75 million in damages after her son suffered injuries stemming from a toboggan incident that took place on December 22, 2010 at Carlington Park in Ottawa.
The incident occurred during a Christmas break day camp run out of the Dovercourt Recreation Centre, which is managed by the not-for-profit Dovercourt Recreation Association through a service agreement with the city. The recreation association, city and the other day camper that allegedly ran into the defendant were named in the statement.
The incident occurred when the plaintiff and his friend “started down the hill” and another day camper, who was allegedly misbehaving that day, “called out for the toboggan” to hit the pair and then directed his toboggan into them, stated the claim.
As a result of being struck by the toboggan, the plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury, a broken jaw, and a dental plate. Now at age 12, he continues to suffer from the same injuries and “faces serious cognitive impairments and limitations as a result of the tobogganing accident,” the claim states.
According to the claim, his ailments range from “serious and ongoing” post-concussion symptoms to difficulty sleeping, increased anxiety, chronic headaches and low self-esteem. He also struggles with schoolwork and can no longer participate in the same amount of activity as before the incident. His “health and emotional trauma have interfered with his ability to enjoy his childhood. He and his family suffer on account of these injuries and limitations.”
The claim alleges that the defendants were negligent because staff didn’t require the children to wear helmets while tobogganing. Helmets were available, and the city’s tobogganing and sledding safety guidelines call for the use of CSA-approved helmets for children; however, an employee of the recreation association told the plaintiff and his brother, who had brought their own hockey helmets to the camp expecting to wear them sledding, that they did not need them.
But, even wearing a helmet doesn’t make you immune to concussions. Many people still suffer concussions and head injuries while wearing them.
An October 2012 study from the American College of Emergency Physicians tracked snowboarding and ski related head injuries in U.S. emergency rooms from 2004-2010. The results found that there were 68,761 reports of such injuries during that time.
These preliminary findings came as a shock to many, including Dr. Nicholas Theodore, Director of Neurotrauma at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
“There was an increase in head injuries compared to times previous to that, and that was surprising to everyone, because if you go on the slope now, more people are wearing helmets,” said Dr. Theodore.
It is difficult to say exactly why there are more head injuries despite the prevalence of helmets, but Dr. Theodore said there could be several reasons why. First, more awareness of brain trauma in general could mean more people go to the emergency room. Second, an increase in the use of terrain parks and also an increase in risky behavior on the slopes might be to blame.
Although it is not an absolute protection, Dr. Theodore still advocates wearing a helmet while skiing or snowboarding because helmets can prevent further trauma to the brain in the event of a head injury. “You should always be wearing a helmet in those types of activities,” he said.
In the case of the aforementioned claim, it was also alleged that the ratio of counselors to campers was inadequate given the “hazardous activity,” and that the staff was not properly trained to supervise the activity and the hill “was too steep, slippery, and dangerous for a group of children without helmets.”
The allegations made in the statement have not been proven in court nor have the defendants filed any statements of defense.
When asked about the recreation association’s policy on helmet use, John Rapp, the recreation association’s executive director, said “we highly endorse the wearing of helmets in any activity that might involve impact,” though there’s no association bylaw that can be enforced.
“We take the safety of our children in our care very seriously, and we try and learn from everything that happens to us and every day that we’re operating,” said Rapp.
The city’s legal department said it had not yet been served with the claim and declined to comment on matters before the courts.
