Legal Question in Personal Injury in Oklahoma
Child injured during horseback riding incident at camp
My minor daughter while attending camp was hit in the eye when the horse she was leading back to the stable swung it's head to the right whereby the bridle caught her next to the left eye. The blow did not knock the eye out, however the laceration required a facial reparation be done. She is severely traumatized, and may require plastic surgery & counseling in future. The horse my daughter was leading was avoiding being hit by the horse being led in front that for some unknown, unaggravated reason attempted to kick this horse. Other camp attendees stated that the horses exhibited more aggressive behaviors at camp; one just laid down and rolled over with a rider still in the saddle. It is my belief that the horses being used were inappropriate for first time beginning riders, and that there was inadequate adult supervision to keep these kids safe. Although we did sign a waiver upon enrolling our child in camp, isn't it true that those waivers aren't worth the paper they're written on? The medical bills total app. $10,000.00. Do I not have a lawsuit here?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child injured during horseback riding incident at camp
I am concerned about the waiver. If that waiver included the need for you and/or your husband to indemnify and hold the camp harmless for any injury that may be received by your child while attending that camp, you could be out of luck in terms of making a claim against that camp since that indemnity and hold harmless agreement will allow the camp owners to spin that claim back around to you.
Even assuming there was no indemnity and hold harmless language in that waiver, you and/or your husband may have 'waived' your right to recover the medical expenses incurred to treat your daughter's injuries. Be that as it may, the waiver probably does not bar your daughter's individual claim against the camp owners. Unfortunately, in order for you, as Next Friend of your daughter, to perfect a claim against the camp's owners on your daugther's behalf, the burden is very great. In short, you are going to have to have evidence that, before your daughter's incident, the camp owner knew or should have known that the horse or horses in question had 'unpredictable' propensities. That is very difficult.
If medical bills are the main concern, I would suggest contacting the owners of that camp to determine whether their General Liability coverage included MedPay. Since MedPay coverage is a 'no fault' coverage, should MedPay have been available under that owner's General Liability policy, you should be able to recover the cost of those medical bills up to the amount of MedPay limits under that camp owner's policy. (Those limits are normally written at thousand dollar increments...ie. $1,000, $5,000, etc.
Good Luck!
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