Burn victim files $8M suit against ex-Senator, others
Woman underwent surgeries, skin grafts after accidental backyard fire in 2018
Hana Engel, the Ottawa woman who was burned and left permanently scarred in a freak accident in May 2018 while at a dinner party hosted by Cody Ceci, is now suing the former Ottawa Senator in a lawsuit seeking more than $8 million in damages.
The statement of claim, filed July 23, describes the wild few seconds on the night of May 9, 2018, when Ceci’s common-law partner Jamie Thompson, who is named as a co-defendant in the suit, accidentally ignited Engel with flaming liquid ethanol burner fuel and she was “immediately engulfed in flames.”
Thompson was trying to refill one of three burners on an outdoor tabletop fireplace around 9 p.m. that night with Engel and other guests seated around the table in Ceci’s backyard in Stittsville.
According to the lawsuit, “without checking to determine if the burner had cooled and/or completely extinguished,” Thompson squirted the ethanol into the burner, causing “flames and ethanol to jet out of the bottle,” which was still in her hands when she “immediately threw the burning bottle in Hana’s direction.
“Hana’s clothing caught fire and she was immediately engulfed in flames.”
Engel, now 25, and her partner, Jake Cardwell, a teammate of Ceci from their days with the Ottawa 67’s, spoke to this newspaper in the weeks following the accident as Engel continued her recovery after three weeks in a medically induced coma and 18 hours of surgeries and skin grafts over three separate operations, an ordeal which is also detailed in the lawsuit.
No statement of defence has been filed from the defendants, which include Ceci and Thompson, as well as Clair de Lune Products, Inc., the manufacturer of the tabletop ethanol fireplace and its subsidiary Les Distributions Orca Lite Inc., which distributed and sold the ethanol biofuel marketed for use in its tabletop fireplaces.
According to the lawsuit, Clair de Lune stopped selling the tabletop ethanol fireplace following the incident.
Engel is seeking $500,000 for “pain and suffering, loss of amenities and loss of enjoyment of life,” an additional $300,000 damages “for loss of housekeeping and homemaking capacity,” and $6 million for “loss of income, loss of competitive advantage in the marketplace, and loss of economic opportunities.”
Cardwell “watched in helpless horror,” according to the suit, as he tried to douse the flames with help from neighbours and other guests.
Cardwell is also a plaintiff seeking $200,000 in damages for “loss of care, guidance and companionship” and $500,000 for the value of “nursing, attendant care and other services … including loss of income.”
The incident and its aftermath forced Cardwell to take a leave of absence from his hockey career in Europe to care for Engel.
He is also seeking $200,000 in general damages for “nervous shock” and “intentional infliction of mental suffering and emotional distress.”
Engel’s parents, Bruce and Bonnie Engel, are also listed as plaintiffs seeking damages for nursing, attendant care and other services totalling $700,000, while her siblings Matthew and Sabrina Engel are seeking $200,000 on a similar claim.
Bruce Engel is a prominent criminal defence lawyer in Ottawa with Engel & Associates, though Hana Engel is represented in the personal injury lawsuit by Howard Yegendorf & Associates.
The civil suit alleges no criminality and no charges were laid related to the incident. The allegations contained in the suit have not been tested in court.
According to the statement of claim, Hana Engel at the time of the incident was a talented and ambitious yoga enthusiast and businesswoman who owned and operated her own yoga studio in Ottawa, had many friends, “and looked forward to a bright future ahead with Jake.”
The lawsuit describes a “physically active young woman who enjoyed yoga, swimming, cycling, dancing, travelling, walking her dogs and other activities.”
She took a “keen interest” in fashion, beauty, cosmetics, hair and personal styling.
“Her injuries and her resulting changes to her appearance have prevented her, and will prevent her from engaging in all of these activities and interests,” the lawsuit claims.
The burns and scars she suffered, with second- and third-degree burns covering 35 per cent of her body, from head to toe as detailed in the suit, left her with “extensive, painful and permanent scars” and consequently “multiple impairments, symptoms and reduced functioning.”
“Hana has undergone indescribable emotional trauma and personal upheaval” as a result of the incident, her injuries, scars and impairments, which include emotional distress and post-traumatic stress inflicted “by the incident itself (and) by the complete and permanent change to Hana’s appearance.”
Her ongoing rehabilitation includes physiotherapy, massage therapy, daily stretches and personal training therapy, a detailed regimen of painkillers, moisturizers and other medications, laser treatments and psychotherapy.
“Hana’s extensive medical, physiotherapy, psychotherapy and other rehabilitative treatment will continue for the rest of her life,” the suit claims, while noting future treatments will incur “extensive health care costs.”