University of Regina appeals $9.1M decision

Pool mishap left woman, then 16, a quadriplegic

REGINA • The University of Regina is appealing a jury’s decision that awarded $9.1 million to a woman who was left a quadriplegic after a swimming accident at the school.

Miranda Biletski was 16 in June 2005 when she hit the bottom of the university’s pool during a dive.

A lawsuit she launched was successful when a jury ruled in October that the university was to blame for the mishap.

Lawyers for the university have asked that the decision be overturned, arguing that claims made by Biletski’s lawyer and the lawyer for the Piranhas Swim Club played to the jury’s sympathies and were inflammatory.

During closing arguments, Biletski’s lawyer read a series of statements about her life expectancy, her lack of resources and her courage facing her injury, while the club’s lawyer made similar remarks.

Biletski will not receive her settlement until the appeal process is complete.

Biletski can move her arms and shoulders, but has limited hand use.

She dove into the pool from competition starting blocks during a swim club practice, but hit the bottom and fractured her cervical vertebrae.

Court heard that the pool depth of four feet or 1.22 metres was laid out in the tiles, but at issue was whether there was enough water in the pool. Court was told the person responsible for pool maintenance added water only one time in two months leading up to Biletski’s accident.

The university’s lawyer, Erin Kleisinger, said the pool depth and the height of the starting blocks met Swimming Canada guidelines.

The university also filed its own lawsuit against the Piranhas Summer Swim Club to cover damages if the jury found the university liable. Miranda Biletski before the 2005 diving accident.