BRIDE SUES AFTER FALL
Honeymooner makes $300,000 claim over canyoning injuries
A WOMAN whose honeymoon was brutally cut short after she was seriously injured when she slipped and fell 6m on to a rock at Behana Gorge is suing a Cairns tour company for more than $300,000.
Deri Lauren Pilgrim, 29, of the UK, was honeymooning in Australia with her husband, Jonathan, in November 2018, when they decided to go on a canyoning tour at Behana Gorge with tour company Experience Co Pty Ltd.
It was to prove to be a decision which “ruined” her honeymoon, she said.
A WOMAN whose honeymoon was brutally cut short after she was seriously injured when she slipped and fell 6m on to a rock at Behana Gorge is suing a Cairns tour company for more than $300,000.
Deri Lauren Pilgrim, 29, of the United Kingdom, was honeymooning in Australia with her husband, Jonathan, in November 2018, when they decided to go on a canyoning tour at Behana Gorge with tour company Experience Co Pty Ltd.
It was to prove to be a decision which “ruined” her honeymoon, she said.
The guided tour went awry when Ms Pilgrim was allegedly invited to jump off the top of a rock cliff face into a water hole at Clamshell Falls, Behana Gorge, about 33km south of Cairns.
“The tour company told us it was safe to jump from the rocks into the water and said nobody had been injured before,” she said.
According to her statement of claim lodged with the Cairns District Court by Shine Lawyers, Mrs Pilgrim was not given any instruction training or supervision as to how she was to jump off the top of the rock cliff face into the waterhole, and the area where she was allowed to jump from by Experience Co tour guides was “wet and slippery and covered in moss”.
The cliff jumping was part of the canyoning tour, which also included abseiling, and canyoning, according to Mrs Pilgrim’s claim.
The claim said as Mrs Pilgrim was about to jump, she slipped and fell, striking a rock ledge.
Falling into the water and in “extreme pain” and “unable to move”, Mrs Pilgrim was rescued from the water and placed on the edge of the waterhole, the claim said.
“This traumatic incident ruined my honeymoon in Australia and whenever I see photographs from that trip, I’m taken back to the fall and the trauma,” Mrs Pilgrim said.
The claim also alleged the tour guides did not call an ambulance, but that she was carried to the company’s minibus with the assistance of her husband and driven back to Cairns where the rest of the tour participants were dropped off at their lodgings and then she was taken to Cairns Hospital.
Hospitalised for 12 days, Mrs Pilgrim’s lawyers are claiming she continues to experience pain and discomfort.
“Day to day I live with severe pain in my knee, down my leg, and lower back and I can’t enjoy the activities that I used to do without a worry in the world,” Mrs Pilgrim explained.
“As a result of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), I find myself unable to cope in many situations, I push others away and I’m not the same person I used to be.”
The claim alleges Experience Co “failed to render the guided canyoning tour of Behana Gorge with due care and skill”.
Shine Lawyers senior associate Susan Gandini said it would be expected “a company supplying a canyoning tour would do so with due care and skill”.
“We allege that the company disregarded our client’s safety, and failed to arrange for our client to be evacuated by ambulance to hospital following her injury,” she said.
“We will continue to pursue this claim on behalf of our client so that she may recover damages for the loss and injury she suffered due to the defendant company’s failure to supply her with a safe and enjoyable canyoning experience.“
Mrs Pilgrim is suing for damages, and past and future economic losses, totalling $306,056.83.
Experience Co Pty Ltd is an ASX-listed company which operates a range of tour brands across Australia and New Zealand, including skydiving, Great Barrier Reef and rainforest tours.
The company did not wish to comment as the matter was before the courts.