City seeks dismissal of $20M lawsuit
Teen battling to walk after being impaled by golf club shaft in 2016
Madison Arsenault doesn’t remember a thing about that day nearly two years ago when she tripped during a Grade 8 gym class and fell head-first onto a snapped-off golf club shaft being used as a stake at the Ford Test Track. However, she will live with the consequences of the tragic fall everyday.
“I’ve surprised the doctors who said I wouldn’t be able to do anything,” said Arsenault, who can manage a laboured walk with a leg brace and crutch for short distances now. “It leaves me drained and in pain afterwards.
“I don’t have much feeling on my left side. I can’t do much with my left arm.,” she said Tuesday. “My vision was affected too. I need a machine to make the words larger.”
Life changed in one step May 25, 2016, when Arsenault stopped jogging along the track and stepped onto the grass field inside the oval. She tripped over a string line being used as a guide by city workers to line a soccer filed. She fell head-first onto the stake, piercing her skull and damaging the right side of her brain.
With her future needs still an uncertainty, Arsenault and her parents (Shirley Martin and Andrew Arsenault) filed a $20-million lawsuit against the City of Windsor, the Greater Essex County District School Board and the two teachers supervising at the park. The defendants statements of defence were recently released and they’re seeking to have the suits dismissed.
The City of Windsor, in its statement of defence, is seeking dismissal claiming Arsenault’s own negligence in walking onto the grass while it was being lined is to blame for her injuries.
The public board’s statement of defence also seeks a dismissal of the suit claiming the student was properly supervised and there was no way of knowing of any danger with no written or verbal warnings onsite.
“That’s no surprise,” said lawyer Jennifer Bezaire, who is representing the family.
“It’s typical of what you see at this point in a suit. The facts will come out over time on who was to blame.
“We’ll just continue to prepare for a trial.”
The city also claims the 16-yearold failed to follow directions from teachers in stepping off the track and as resulted she failed to care for her own safety.
In doing so, the city claims Arsenault’s injuries were unforeseeable by the city and there was nothing that could have been done to prevent the injury.
The public board’s statement of defence focuses more on its claim the city failed to post signage warning of work being done on the grass field. It also claims city workers on the scene gave no verbal warning of danger.
In defending the supervision of its teachers at the scene, the board also noted that Arsenault was a well-behaved, intelligent student who was mature for her age. For Arsenault, the legal proceedings are more background noise in her daily struggle navigating three Grade 10 classes followed by daily therapy sessions.
“I don’t think I’m angry anymore,” Arsenault said. “I’m more frustrated over the impact of the side effects — all the struggles to do things.”
But Arsenault has proven to be a fighter.
Returning to school despite concentration problems and headaches was a major step forward for her.
She didn’t want to seem diminished to her peers, so she’s largely discarded her wheelchair at school because she grew tired of looking up at everyone.
“I still can’t look them in the eye because I’m short,” Arsenault joked.
Her goal is to graduate with her classmates in 2020. That will require going to summer school after missing a semester of Grade 9 with her injuries.
Watching her daughter’s display of stubbornness as she tries to grab on to some semblance of normalcy in life, Martin said the family lives for small victories. Those victories are being carved out through two to three hours of therapy, five days a week.
Martin’s voice quivers at the thought that tiny triumphs are all there may be for Madison. “The brain would have to rewire itself (to get more feeling and mobility on her left side),” Martin said. “Unless it does that, she won’t do more than the way she walks now.” Despite being dealt a cruel, freakish blow, Arsenault claims she can still find some happiness.
“My family, my friends, all the people who have supported us and through my dog,” Arsenault said of her sources of happiness.
“I want to go college or university. I like to bake and cook, so I’d like to do that.”
In the meantime, the family is literally rebuilding their lives. Unable to climb stairs to her bedroom, Arsenault has taken over half the living room at home. However, thanks to the generosity of supporters at Ground Effects, Nor-Built Construction and BK Cornerstone, the family is having the ground floor of their home renovated to create a bedroom for Arsenault.
Those wishing to contribute or volunteer for the project can do so by calling 519-728-3664. “People have really stepped up to help us,” Martin said. “We’re so thankful for people’s kindness.” While the family concentrates on the short term, it’s left to Bezaire to oversee the lawsuit they hope will cover Arsenault’s needs for a lifetime.
“It could take years,” Bezaire said. “It’s hard to determine what Madison’s future needs will be until the doctors determine that. “We can’t qualify her losses until we factor in what her injuries are and the impact on the brain.”