SHOED FOR $350,000
Ex-student seeks $350k payout for school injury
A FORMER pupil is seeking more than $350,000 compensation from a Scenic Rim school for an injury sustained playing touch rugby wearing Dunlop Volley shoes.
Dylan Patrick Luxton, 18, slipped passing a football during a game at Woodhill State School in July 2012, when he was aged 12.
A statement of claim lodged at Southport District Court said the fall left him with a fractured shin bone and needing knee reconstruction surgery three years later.
“(The school) failed to warn of the dangers of participating in touch rugby whilst wearing Dunlop Volley shoes,” the claim states.
A KNEE injury sustained while playing touch rugby in Dunlop Volleys rather than football boots has resulted in a former student lodging a claim for more than $350,000.
Dylan Patrick Luxton, 18, is asking for $354,770.20 compensation after he slipped passing a football during a match at a school sports carnival at Woodhill State School in July 2012.
The fall left the then 12year-old Mr Luxton with a fractured shin bone. He needed a knee reconstruction three years later.
“(Mr Luxton) will not be able to participate in activities requiring prolonged periods of standing, walking, running or jumping over uneven terrain, carrying heavy objects in confined spaces or activities involving torsional and loading forces to this left knee,” court documents lodged in Southport District Court said.
“(The school) failed to warn of the dangers of participating in touch rugby whilst wearing Dunlop Volley shoes which facilitated or added to the foreseeable risk of slipping whilst so participating.” It is claimed he should have been wearing cleated or studded shoes.
The injury has left Mr Luxton, who left school in Year 11, unable to pursue his desired career as a personal trainer.
“Prior to his injury (Mr Luxton) enjoyed football, basketball and rollerblading. He was precluded from participating in these activities for an extended period of time,” the documents said.
Mr Luxton is no longer able to take part in contact sports.
The claim also alleges the school contributed to the injury as they had provided “inadequate supervision” to the four-a-side touch game.
Since the injury Mr Luxton has been assessed as having a seven per cent whole person impairment and an increased risk of developing osteoarthritis.
Mr Luxton claims the injury left him unable to get part-time work when he was 16 and “limited” his employment possibilities and potential earnings.
After the injury, Mr Luxton spent a year in a knee brace and needed help from his mother to shower, use the bathroom and travel to school.
Shine Lawyers solicitor Tina Ibraheem, who acts for Mr Luxton, said: “You send your children to school with the expectation that they will be safe.”
A spokesman for the Department of Education declined to comment as the matter is before the courts.