Tourist to sue resort

$1.9m claim for broken neck in pool dive

A TOURIST who had to give up his $200,000-a-year job after breaking his neck jumping into a Cairns CBD hotel pool is suing the four-star resort for more than $1.9 million.

Hong Kong-based civil engineer Chiu Shing Chin, 50, was staying at the Novotel Cairns Oasis Resort on Lake St with his wife and two children when the incident occurred.

Documents filed in the Cairns Supreme Court said Mr Chin dived into the pool twice just before midday on April 20, 2017 and on the second dive his head hit the bottom.

The documents claimed he was taken by ambulance to Cairns Hospital where he underwent spinal surgery for a fractured neck, along with other injuries.

He spent 10 days in Cairns Hospital before flying home where he spent further time in a Hong Kong hospital.

Mr Chin’s legal representatives have claimed he has suffered ongoing pain and suffering, forcing him to quit his high-paying job and take a new job which paid just $61,000-a-year.

They said he was unable to work for three months when he got home, resigned from his job suffering chronic neck pain, then spent eight months unemployed at the start of last year before taking up the lower paying position.

They have launched the legal action against the hotel claiming they had been negligent due to signage and a lack of warning from staff.

It was alleged Mr Chin’s son had been diving in the pool repeatedly that morning prior to his jumps and staff had not spoken with either of them.

They also claimed the signage was minimal and only in English “despite the high incidence of lawful entrants to the hotel having other languages including Cantonese as their first language”.

It was also claimed the signage went against Royal Life Saving regulations and Australian Standards.

Accor, the Novotel’s parent company, was contacted for comment but did not respond before deadline.

A date for the matter is yet to be set.