A seven-year-old child, who lost a tooth following an accident at the Craggaunowen prehistoric park, has had a settlement of compensation for a bouncy castle injury approved in court.
Aimee Turner from Kilmore, County Limerick, made the bouncy castle injury compensation claim through her mother – Rachel Cross – after being hurt at the award-winning visitor attraction in County Clare in April 2010.
While playing on the bouncy castle, Aimee – who was four-and-a-half years of age at the time – was struck on the left side of her mouth, damaging her upper left central baby incisor tooth. Due to the trauma, Aimee´s tooth became discoloured and she was referred by the family dentist to consultant maxillofacial surgeon Michael Kilbride, who extracted the damaged tooth.
After a further examination by the family dentist, it was determined that the discolouring of Aimee´s teeth had been caused by bleeding into the crown of the tooth which was caused by the accident at the Craggaunowen prehistoric park.
After seeking legal advice, Aimee´s mother made a claim for compensation for a bouncy castle injury against the owners of the site claiming that, at the time of her daughter´s injury, the inflatable toy was unsupervised.
Liability for Aimee´s injury was acknowledged and the claim for a bouncy castle injury was assessed by the Injuries Board at €5,000 for the pain and suffering Aimee had experienced plus a further €1,624 for the costs incurred by her mother.
As settlements of compensation involving children have to approved by a judge before the claim can be resolved, the case was presented to Circuit Court president – Mr Justice Raymond Groarke – who, after hearing that the tooth had been removed 18 months early and that there would be no permanent damage, approved the settlement of compensation for a bouncy castle injury.