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Injured Young Man Donates Portion of Settlement to Ensure Future Camp Safety
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| Bradford Deluca with the new thicker climbing crash pads he donated part of his settlement to pay for. These pads are specifically designed to protect climbers from injury. |
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| These new crash pads are thick enough to safely catch a falling climber. They are about a foot thick compared to the mats previously used at the camp, which were about an inch thick. |
Camp Safety Lapse Results in HS Graduation Night Serious Injury
Don Corson of the Corson & Johnson Law Firm of Eugene, Oregon represented Bradford Deluca, a young man who
was injured while rock climbing at a camp that provided high school
seniors a safe and fun graduation night experience.
The Camp provided as part of its facilities a climbing wall, and as part of its services, staff to operate the climbing wall. The Camp staff had responsibility for, and control over, how its paying guests were rigged up for each climb. A Camp staffer was responsible for properly securing each guest for each ascent, through means of a carabiner affixed by the staffer to a standard climbing harness.
On Bradford's third climb, the Camp staffer failed to properly secure him. Bradford reached the top of the climbing route, touched the bell affixed to the top, and leaned back for the controlled descending rappel just has he had done twice earlier that evening. Because the Camp staffer had failed to properly secure him, there was a sudden fall instead of a controlled descent. Unfortunately, the Camp had chosen for its fall protection the thin style of mats designed for the much lower loads of gymnastics, instead of the thicker safety crash pads routinely used in climbing gyms. Both of Bradford's wrists snapped. One wrist was so severely broken that it required extensive surgery that involved the permanent installation of orthopedic hardware.
Climbing crash pads are safety devices typically constructed with a top layer of closed cell foam and a larger amount of open cell foam underneath. The foam is contained in a durable sheath, usually nylon. The layers of foam absorb a significant amount of shock, reducing both the risk and the severity of injuries.
Settlement Includes Improving Safety fro Future Campers
In settlement negotiations, Bradford pressed to have
the Camp install safer climbing equipment, including climbing crash
pads, to protect young people in the future. Afterwards, Bradford
donated a portion of his settlement to purchasing new climbing crash
pads for the Camp.
As part of the mission of Making Sure the Law Works for Everyone, The Corson & Johnson Law Firm actively persues this type of positive result beyond revovering monetary compensation for our clients through the judicial system. Through the cases we handle, The Corson & Johnson Law Firm is committed to working for changes that stop or reduce the recurrence of senseless accidents, errors, or product defects in effort to provide a safer environment for every American.
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