Home > Research Legal Advice > Personal Injury > My son was pushed in gym class broke his neck C1 and C2 the scholl let h...
Asked over 1 year ago - River Vale, NJ
FlagThey sent him to the athletic trainer who did a concussion test and other things and told him to go home and get an xray, he should not hev even been moved with a neck injury
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This is truly regrettable. The School, whether the trainer, nurse, teacher, administrator, clearly acted improperly. They took a "bad" situation and almost made it much worse. You should consult with a qualified, local, and experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. You and your son may have a very significant personal injury case. There are deadlines that must be meet and an investigation that must be conducted. Search avvo, ask those you trust and respect, call the NJAJ for recommendations. I do not practice in NJ but have worked with many excellent attorneys in Bergen and throughout NJ. Feel free to contact me for recommendations or opinions. All the best, Jeff
Of course he should have been moved with a potential neck injury. They should have called an ambulance, or at the very least got the school nurse involved. The question is whether he was damaged by their failure to provide him with the appropriate medical care over and above the damage caused by the initial injury. Do you have any sense that he was? In addition to these issues, you may have a cause of action against the school for negligent supervision depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding the pushing incident. These cases are fact sensitive, so you really need to meet with a qualified lawyer. Feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
Above counsel make 2 great points. You have a potential suit for negl supervision against the school and if it is a public school you have a 90 day deadline to file a Notice of Claim that is usually sent in letter form and must contain certain data to be effective. I would add that you then are not permitted to file suit against a public school for 6 months during which time the public entity enjoys an investigation period, and you still have a two year statute of limitations to file the actual lawsuit. I have successfully handled tort claims act cases in Bergen County for over 28 years and also offer a free consultation. Feel free to call.
My suggestion is to please call me for a 100% FREE CONSULTATION. No lawyer can give you any advice on this website, and even if they could, no lawyer could ever give advice based on this 2 sentence description of the events.
As my colleagues mentioned, there may be several claims that your son could have - against the school, the school employees, the kid who pushed him, etc. Or you may have no case at all. You need to go over the full facts with an experienced personal injury attorney who can then advise you and your son on how to proceed.
VERY IMPORTANT: You do not state whether this is a public or private school or what your son's age is. If this is a public school then you must send a Notice of Claim under Title 59 to the proper entity within 90 days after your son's 18th birthday or the day of the incident, whichever is later. Yet another reason to consult with an attorney as soon as possible.
Best of luck.
Dan Levy
973-742-1917
dan@raffandraff.com
You may have several claims. If the school was no notice of a potential fight, but failed to properly supervise your son to prevent it, you may have a claim against the school. Likewise, if the school's failure to appropriately respond to your son's injuries increased his injuries, you may have a claim for that as well. Definitely, check with an attorney ASAP because claims against schools often have stricter requirements on giving notice and/or filing suit than regular cases.
First of all, I'm sorry to hear about this very sad injury case. I would agree with other counsel. You should explore this further with local counsel, to fully assess your options. If this occurred at a public school, there are certain procedural requirements of pursuing a claim against a governmental agency that you must address, or risk losing your right to sue. Most reputable PI lawyers will provide an initial consult for little or no cost.
Good luck to you and your son!
