‘Miracle’ boy who survived fall sues hotel for damages

A TODDLER who ‘miraculously’ survived a fall from a sixth-floor hotel balcony is suing the hotel for damages.

Neil Shanahan, three, fell from the top floor of the Strand Hotel on O’Callaghan Strand in Limerick city – some 20 metres, or 65 feet – in July of last year.

The High Court civil proceedings have been issued against Limerick Strand Hotel Ltd and Strand Leisure Investments Ltd, both represented by Holmes O’Malley Sexton solicitors in Limerick.

The young Limerick boy, listed on court documents as the plaintiff, is being represented by Dermot G O’Donovan law firm.

Representatives of both law firms did not wish to comment on the case at present.

The proceedings were issued this August, with an entry of appearance made this month by the defendants, though no date yet has been set for a full hearing.

While gardaí at Henry Street station in Limerick initially said they were treating the incident as an accident, the circumstances which led to the boy being able to access the rooftop balcony were investigated, including interviews with hotel staff and CCTV footage being Recovered: Neil with his mother obtained. Aged two-and-a-half at the time, Neil was in a critical condition after the incident, and spent five weeks in intensive care as well as a period in a full-body cast.

He damaged two ribs and two vertebrae, and a bone in his pelvis. He also suffered lacerations in his liver, kidney and spleen as well as a fractured skull.

‘He has suffered to put it mildly,’ his mother Martina said, following his release from hospital.

The fact that he was not more seriously injured after the incident was ‘a miracle’, she added.