You definitely did not fail your kid. My medical incident as a kid that involved a hook and a body part was a swing and a broken hook that went through my pinkie finger. My mom's solution, take a box of bandages, go back outside and let me watch my soap operas. Oh and the hook was rusty.
That obvious, isn't it...ha, ha.You must be Gen X, too?
That obvious, isn't it...ha, ha.
Glad your family member is ok…Not a lawyer but …There is no hurry to do anything so I wouldn’t rush. I would find out the statute of limitations on bringing civil cases in the state of occurrence (should you want to) and then keep detailed records on everything including any photos of the ‘hook’/scene you might have taken. (FYI when taking photos of ‘evidence’ in any case ensure you take wide photos showing the scene as well as progressive close ups including some with a ruler or item that can be used to reference size of the offending condition or wounds etc) There may or may not be further issues with the injury as time goes on so I unless you were stressed by the hospital bills I would take my time to make a decision on what course to take legally if any. Be careful taking any offers that might be made as that might preclude any future considerationsMy family is currently driving home from spring break at a DVC resort - non WDW property. My child was walking on the pool deck (multiple witnesses) toward the pool slide which has a small gate to shut when closed. The latch is a large hook, and he fell onto it - it is at chest level & he hooked his under arm, & was basically cut open. We were taken to the hospital via ambulance and he had to have emergency surgery.
Honestly this was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever had to go through, he is fine as far as there is no nerve or muscle damage, it was all soft tissue and we were very lucky to have had a plastic surgeon on staff to do the surgery. He was able to do other things there and we tried to create as many other fun memories as possible given this happened on the second day of a 9 day trip.
The staff were very worried and kind of course- they did take an incident report - and then later on we noticed that they also changed the type of latch on the gate from hook to loop.
I’ve got a family member in my ear about litigation - but I don’t know what to do or even if that is something we should do. Should I reach out to Disney? To DVC? Should I expect to hear from them? I don’t know - I tried searching forums here to see if anyone was in a similar situation but couldn’t find anything. What would you do?
So - im not sure why but I feel the need to double down on this - despite the “completion” of the vacation- he was severely injured. I left out details before bc why would I need that but this is kind of implying that I overreacted.I might hire an attorney to draft one letter hoping to get some medical expenses covered.
It was an accident and things happen.
I probably wouldn't use the term 'severely injured' when the incident happened on day 2 and you were all able to complete your 9 day vacation.
You're under no obligation to provide details. But this is the DISboards. What did you expect from these people?So - im not sure why but I feel the need to double down on this - despite the “completion” of the vacation- he was severely injured. I left out details before bc why would I need that but this is kind of implying that I overreacted.
You have worded this perfectly and compactly, hitting the high points.My husband is an attorney specializing in personal injury. He would probably say to send a polite letter to Disney detailing what occurred, attaching the medical bills and the incident report if you gave it and asking for compensation for your out of pocket costs. You may want a lawyer to do it but then it immediately becomes adversarial. You should get some sort of response and then you can decide if you want to take it further. But it sounds like there was no contributory negligence on their part. It was an unfortunate accident . And Disney will not want to compensate for an accident because it sets a precedent.
As another lawyer has said on this site, law suits are expensive unless you find an attorney willing to front the costs and take his % plus costs on the back end. But Disney has lots of attorneys on their payroll. And admitting negligence is not something they want to do.
Most health ins now asks if the injury was caused by a third party. You can decide to say yes but then they may want to surrogate their out of pocket costs expecting you to get repaid from the third party and asking you to repay them . Most ins co these days are eager to get their money back do it can become a slippery slope.
I think people were more asking from a legal perspective. What was the overall impact the injury had. I don't think anyone is questioning the severity of it or saying you're overreacting. But there is a different level of impact between having surgery and being able to still complete your vacation in some capacity versus being in the hospital for weeks recovering or having to be airlifted home, etc.So - im not sure why but I feel the need to double down on this - despite the “completion” of the vacation- he was severely injured. I left out details before bc why would I need that but this is kind of implying that I overreacted.
The skin and soft tissue on one arm was ripped open by a 2.5inch hook which he impaled himself on and then slid down, from under his shoulder to before his elbow. By some miracle of angles (and angels?) his axillary artery was missed by “a hair” - plastic surgeon had a specialty in reconstruction which helped him to be able to function more quickly afterward (only internal stitches & external glue and steri strips .
We don’t know if he will be able to competitively swim the same way he was for the last 3 years - but he was able to pin trade, complete hidden Mickey scavenger hunts & make smores (with help) for the last part of our vacation. Does that make it not “severe”?