A High Court Action has been settled for €25,000 for a Tayto Park compensation claim after a child fell from a tower and fractured his lower arm in March 2012.
The Court was advised that Conor Bolger, then aged just 8 years old, had to have surgery and pins inserted near his elbow following suffering the fracture in the amusement park accident.
Taking the legal compensation action through his father Brian Bolger, the now aged 13 Conor Bolger of Briarfield Road, Kilbarrack, sued Ashbourne Visitor Centre Ltd,Co Meath trading as Tayto Park due to injuries sustained in the accident that occurred on on March 25, 2012.
Counsel claimed that Conor was playing on a tower in the main playground area, then the main attraction in Tayto Park. The tower, it was alleged, was overcrowded and Conor fell as a result of this. The area that he landed on was, according to Mr Bolger’s legal team, insufficiently covered with protective wood chips and he (Conor) suffered a fracture to his left elbow as a result of this. In the aftermath of the incident Mr Bolger had his elbow in a cast for a month and had pins inserted below his elbow in a surgical procedure.
Additionally, his legal team stated there was believed to have been a failure in providing an adequate inspection procedure that would have seen a raking of wood chips in the playground to plimsoll level which may have provided adequate insulation in the event of an accident like this occurring.
The claims were denied by Counsel for Ashbourne Visitor Centre David McGrath SC. He stated that Conor Bolger was climbing the tower when he “just fell”. He claimed that there was no criticism of the tower itself. Mr McGrath stated that Mr Bolger’s family were happy with the proposed settlement despite Conor suffering a serious injury and undergoing a surgical procedure that left him with a scar.
In approving the proposed settlement for Tayto Park compensation, Justice Kevin Cross stated that, following a personal inspection of the scar on Conor’s elbow, it was not “too upsetting”. Mr Cross also took into account the fact that Conor enjoys playing basketball which may have been inhibited by the injury that he suffered.