Parents Sue After Child Dies Of “Brain-Eating Amoeba”

The parents of a 3-year-old boy who died of a “brain-eating amoeba” claim that he contracted the amoeba in an Arlington City public park splash pad. They have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Arlington for negligence related to the death of their child.

The boy visited the splash pad in August and September before falling ill. His symptoms included a 102-degree fever and a refusal to eat or drink anything.

Issues involving the splash pads and the cleanliness of the water were reported before the incident. Several state inspection lapses resulted in the splash pads becoming unreasonably dangerous, according to the plaintiffs.

The City would not comment on the litigation but said that there was a comprehensive review underway of the splash pad equipment and City policies involving maintenance.

Infectious disease lawsuits 

Regardless of what you’ve been told in reference to COVID-19, infectious disease lawsuits are very hard to prove. Let’s take a common example. Someone gets food poisoning from a restaurant. How do you know? Well, you weren’t sick before you went into the restaurant, and an hour after you leave, you’re sick. While that might make perfect sense to you, it falls short of proving where the infection came from. In fact, this can be nearly impossible for personal injury lawyers resulting in very few cases of injury lawsuits being filed on a theory of preventable contagion.

In this case, an independent study confirmed the presence of the brain-eating amoeba in the splash pads. Hence, it is very probable that the child got the brain-eating amoeba from the splash pad. Is that enough to win their personal injury lawsuit? It would be in some states, but Texas can be a difficult place to file a lawsuit against the government.

Why this lawsuit is different 

While personal injury lawyers don’t file a lot of infection lawsuits, this lawsuit is different. In this case, you have a rare disease that’s caused by a freshwater amoeba that would likely be killed by chlorine. Infection from this amoeba is harder than something like COVID. You can’t get an infection from drinking amoeba-contaminated water, only from the water going up your nose. In other words, the circumstantial evidence heavily indicates that the child would have gotten the disease at the unmaintained splash pad. More evidence indicates that the presence of chlorine would have greatly reduced the chances of infection.

In other words, even Texas doesn’t haven’t strong enough sovereign immunity laws to protect the state from performing a duty they said that they would take on. This child’s death is on the City of Arlington and the many qualities of care breakdowns that resulted in his death.

Talk to a Tampa Personal Injury Lawyer Today 

If your child is injured at a state park, you may be entitled to recover damages for their medical care and any quality-of-life issues they suffer as a result of their injury. Call today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how the Tampa personal injury attorneys at The Matassini Law Firm can help hold the responsible accountable.

Resource:

dallasnews.com/news/2021/10/04/family-sues-city-of-arlington-in-childs-death-from-brain-eating-amoeba/