AN 11-year-old boy who looked “like a shark” after suffering multiple injuries across a number of teeth when playing with his older brother on a ‘windsurfer rocker’ at Lahinch playground has been awarded €18,850.
In the contested personal injury action at Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford has ordered the voluntary operators of Lahinch playground to pay €18,850 compensation to Limerick teenager Oisin Ryan Blake for dental injuries he sustained from the accident while on the windsurfer rocker on March 4, 2016.
The €18,850 in damages to be paid by the management committee of the Lahinch Playground Project to Mr Ryan Blake, now aged 18, is made up of general damages of €17,000 along with €1,850 in special damages.
The playground, located opposite Lahinch prom at the popular seaside resort, is used by thousands of children on their holidays every summer and has been developed from local fundraising. The windsurfer rocker remains in operation currently at the playground.
Judge Comerford said that it is his inclination not to find against playgrounds unless there is a defect with playing equipment, but he found that in this case the windsurfer rocker was defective after finding that it had a missing bolt and the management committee was liable.
“I really think it is difficult that so many recreational activities are put under the burden of multiple claims, I have huge sympathy for that,” he said.
The voluntary playground committee also faces a costs bill after Judge Comerford awarded costs to Mr Ryan Blake in the case.
CCTV footage was viewed in court of the incident and Judge Comerford said that it was his belief “that the windsurfer moves too much and there had to be a defect”.
Prior to the incident, Mr Ryan Blake told the court that he had spent time in hospital – in 2012, Oisin received an Irish Heart Foundation ‘Life After Stroke’ award for the recovery he made after suffering a stroke at the age of seven while playing for Caherdavin Celtic.
In evidence, Oisin’s brother, Robin, said that Oisin “looked like a shark with his teeth coming up” after the windsurfer rocker had struck his younger brother in the mouth.
The two boys had entered the empty playground at around 8pm at night without any adult supervision after having just arrived at the seaside resort with their grandfather who was preparing their camper van for the overnight stay.
CCTV was shown to the court of Robin, then aged 13, and Oisin on either side of the windsurfer rocker and, after Robin came off it, the rocker sprung into the face of the Oisin causing the injuries and he was immediately brought to University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
In evidence, Robin, now aged 22, said that he didn’t come off the rocker on purpose as he was terrified as it was going back too much.
“I didn’t expect to see his face smashed up,” he said.
After the rocker struck his brother, Robin said that “there were a lot of screams from him and me after seeing his face and the condition he was in”.
In evidence, Oisin told the court that after the rocker struck him in the mouth and “I felt my mouth and saw a load of blood on my hand and ran straight back to the camper van. I was in a load of pain.”
Oisin said that he subsequently required root canal work and had to wear braces on his teeth until 2020/21.
He said that in the immediate two to three weeks after the incident, he was on a diet of soft foods, soup, liquids, or mash as he recovered from his injuries.
The management committee argued that the claim should be dismissed as two boys were trespassers and were without adult supervision and there was a sign stating that children should be supervised. The management committee also argued that the rocker was not defective.
Judge Comerford found against the management committee on those three grounds. Judge Comerford put a stay on his order pending an appeal of his ruling to the High Court.
