Swimming Pool Accidents Involving Children are Both Tragic and Foreseeable
The term negligent supervision means that a child entrusted to the care of an adult other than the parents was not appropriately supervised by that “third party,” in this case, near a swimming pool. It could be a public pool, or at an apartment, school or recreation center, or someone’s back yard. Child swimming pool accidents can occur in the blink of an eye. A child can fall into a pool, or experience distress while swimming or wading in what is assumed to be safe water, in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, with each second that goes by as a child suffers under the water, an injury is developing and worsening.
Lack of oxygen to a child’s brain can create severe medical issues that will plague a child for the rest of their life. It can take less than five minutes of a parent’s or supervisor’s inattention of a child to suffer an injury or some other fatal pool accident. If a child is fortunate enough to be saved from drowning, the effects of this injury may forever alter the child’s life. If a prolonged amount of time elapses in which oxygen is not able to reach a child’s brain, a life-long medical condition may develop that could greatly change the child’s quality of life, as well as that child’s family.
And if a child dies in a drowning accident at a swimming pool, a parent’s loss is indescribable. In either situation, i.e. if a child suffers an injury due to a pool accident or if a child dies due to a fatal swimming pool drowning, the parents or guardians of that child may be able to seek restitution for their child’s injury or loss through a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. A successful civil suit can assist the victim’s family with their medical costs in addition to identifying the negligent liable defendants so they can be held properly accountable for their inattentiveness which contributed to a swimming pool drowning tragedy.
Contact our local Texas drowning accident lawyers for a free consultation and find out how we can help you. We welcome every one of your questions in connection to your Texas drowning accident. You will receive answers you need and we’ll also apprise you of your possible legal options in a sensitive and respectful manner so that you can understand how together, we can seek the rightful compensation and see justice served for this needless drowning tragedy that you and your family must now deal with.
Other Avenues of Injury in and Around Texas Swimming Pools
Some swimming pool accidents in Texas are caused by improper maintenance of the pool itself or the area around the pool. Those who own a backyard pool can attest to the fact that a lot of work must go into taking care of a pool so that the water remains clean, the pool equipment continues to function properly and the areas near the pool don’t pose a safety hazard to their guests. Similar maintenance is required of all pools in order to provide for public safety and there is a certain amount of municipal control over these privately-owned “public” pools. If murky or unclean water causes a person to develop an illness, they may have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent party responsible for the fact that the pool’s water is unclean and posed a clear health hazard. Also, many local communities require apartments to have fences and fully-functioning safety gates around their swimming pools. And that those gates must remain closed at all times so toddlers won’t wander into the pool area.
Furthermore, equipment used within the pool and outside of the pool can also be hazardous. If a person is injured due to a defective pool drain or any part of the pool’s plumbing, a lawsuit may also have merit. Sometimes it can be against those who own and maintain the pool, and other times if a defective product was at fault, the manufacturer can be held liable. Broken pool gates, broken diving boards or other equipment that may be constantly used at a public pool can also be a great risk to those that use them. There are many ways that a person – be it an adult or child – can suffer an injury at a swimming pool, and not all of them may result in a drowning accident. In order to determine whether or not your swimming pool accident may have merit as a personal injury case, contact an experienced swimming pool accident attorney.
The pain and suffering experienced by a pool accident victim can often be quite immense, in addition to the mental turmoil or emotional distress to a family when a young child suffers a fatal or near-fatal drowning accident. Compensation can be sought for medical bills and victim pain and suffering, in addition to other types of financial losses often incurred as a result of a pool accident. The specific damages depend on the details of each individual case.
Such debilitating injuries are often accompanied by exorbitant medical costs. If the child does drown, the emotional and mental turmoil experienced by the family can be immense, and also be factored in the damage amount the surviving loved ones ask the negligent defendant to pay. A fatal child pool accident or a non-fatal swimming pool drowning that produces severe personal injury, the aggrieved family may be able to pursue justice for their child’s injury or loss through a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. With decades of experience in working with victims and bereaved family members, our drowning accident attorneys can help you through this difficult time so that your child’s injury or loss does not bring even further financial tragedy.
Some of the Challenges You Face When Trying to Win Your Drowning Lawsuit
Regardless of where we are in Texas, we all owe a general legal duty to others to not act in a way that can be dangerous to our fellow Texans. And sometimes when we “recreate,” on the weekends, that responsibility can sometimes take a back seat to our natural desire to relax and forget about the cares for awhile. And let’s face it. Sometimes people can go a “little bit nuts” when they do that. Does that relieve liable parties to an accident of their legal duty? Of course, it doesn’t.
If some negligent someone has negligently caused a fatal accident on one of our area lakes, rivers, streams, stock tanks or swimming pools, they deserve to be held accountable in court for their actions, and pay the surviving family members in a drowning accident. But just because they owe, doesn’t mean they automatically pay. The aggrieved family, acting as the plaintiff, must seek damage relief for their deceased family member’s medical bills, their pain and suffering (both the victims and their own if the accident has taken the life of their loved one) as well as the value lost wages and disability.
It’s quite likely this negligent defendant (or defendants if the investigation reveals more than one liable party) will have some form of insurance. And insurance companies are in the business of collecting premiums and not paying out damage claims. So you might find yourself facing stern opposition from insurance adjusters as well as some good attorneys who will defend these insurance companies very aggressively.
And since the drowning accident occurred in a recreational setting, many of the charges you might make against the defendant to prove negligence might also be made against your deceased relative in order for the defendant to avoid paying you damages, or anyone else who is not covered by their client/defendant’s insurance policy. And since you are the plaintiff, not only is the burden on you and your attorney to clearly prove the defendants’ negligence, but to also dis-prove all of the charges against your loved one – some of them patently false – that the defendant and his or her insurance carrier might make in order to either get your civil negligence case dismissed, or to convince the jury of their position that your civil damages suit is false, and maybe even frivolous.
If the drowning occurred on private property and a release had to be signed before the drowning tragedy, defendants think they are legally OK: until they discover that releases also come with their responsibility to maintain a safe environment. And if they have failed in that duty, juries will hold them legally liable. And if the liable defendant is not insured, it’s possible that this person might be fighting you for his financial life since losing such a case might bring monetary ruin to his or her family.
All of these reasons should give you an idea of why you need to call an experienced lake or swimming pool drowning accident and wrongful death attorney with our Law Firm at the earliest possible moment before crucial evidence begins to slip beneath the waves of the lake or swimming pool where your family suffered its terrible tragedy.
Contact our local Texas drowning accident lawyers for a free consultation and find out how we can help you. We welcome every one of your questions in connection to your Texas drowning accident in Texas. You will receive answers you need and we’ll also apprise you of your possible legal options in a sensitive and respectful manner so that you can understand how together, we can seek the rightful compensation and see justice served for this needless drowning tragedy that you and your family must now deal with.