About a week ago my son was injured when a horseshoe hit him in the nose. He was standing slightly behind me, more on the side of me. We were standing about five feet form the peg in the ground, on the receiving end. His grandfather was the throwee and it richoted off the peg and around me and hit him square on the nose. He is five and he fell backwards on his back immediately blood starting pouring out of his nose. I grabbed him and ran into my house. Within a few minutes we were heading to the hospital and spent subsequently four hours there. Then the following day we visited my sons pediatrician who advised that the one side of his nose that was packed needed to stay packed until we could see a specialists. Needless to say my son missed two days of his pre-k program that I pay for out of pockit. We saw the specialist the following Friday and he said my son would need to have surgery on one side of his nose to fix a defect. He was also prescribed an antibiotic for infection. My question is simple can I sue for medical bills as well as pain and suffering. This is getting very expensive for me and I would like to try and recover some money for this. Even If I was found to be partially responsible every little bit would help. And my son looked like he was in a prize fight the first couple of days know he suffered. A lot people would sue for money because they want to line their pockets , I'm a three person family on my one income and it is difficult. Do I have a case?:confused:

Yes but why would you sue the grandfather! It was an accident and sometimes thing happen

No one is supposed to stand anywhere near the peg where the horseshoe is being thrown. If you look at the rules of the game, all players are supposed to be standing well behind the thrower so stuff like this doesn't happen. I believe that a court would see it the same way and put the blame on you, not the grandfather.

Save, was this your father or your father-in-law? Do you have medical insurance? If not, have you spoken with the boy's grandfather about helping you out with the bills? This was an accident. Both you and your son were standing in the wrong place. He doesn't have a legal obligation to give you anything, but from a moral perspective, I would imagine he would want to help you if you are in a financial bind. What was his response to you when you asked him for help to pay the bills?

We were not standing near the peg but we were standing on the side of the peg about five feet away, the horseshoe ricoched and circled around me and hit him. He didn't offer to help in any way.

Well, offering, and you telling him about the cost and asking for help are two different things. Was he at all concerned or upset about this? Maybe he was in shock and didn't think about any unreimbursed medical bills. I think that would be pretty normal unless the guy is a total s.o.b. Is he?

Well he cared about it the first day when it happened but has not called or even asked how my son is doing since this has happened. So to me yes he is a s.o.b.

Call the guy and tell him everything that happened and what the doctors are saying. Then, tell him that he knows money is tight and ask him to help you out covering the cost of the unreimbursed expenses. See what he says. It is better to go in easy, with a reasonable and logical attitude than to just slam him with a lawsuit. If he is married and his wife is a reasonable and caring person, you could ask her for help too. My point is, before you do something drastic like suing, try talking to the guy or get someone (your wife?) who is able to reason with him, to talk to him about this first. If there is a way of avoiding a lawsuit and getting what you need, that would be the way to go. Keep the family from getting into a bitter dispute if you can avoid it.

Hello save:

To win a lawsuit, you have to prove someone did something negligent. It doesn't appear, from your own description, that his grandfather did anything wrong.

Indeed, it looks like you're much more responsible than he is. If he was near enough to the pit to get hit, he was too close, and that's on you. Therefore, I believe that you are responsible for his bills.

excon

I am also thinking the guy might be really upset, think you are angry with him and blaming him. He might be afraid to call.

It does not appear to be a matter of negligence. You were going to pay for the days of prek if he attended, so you didn't incur additional expense just because he didn't go. So, don't worry about that one. For the medical bills, if you pay even a little bit each month, they will be satisfied. Talk to the medical people and start by telling them you can pay a maximum, for example of $25 per month toward the entire debt and that there are multiple parties (doctor, anestesiologist or whatever) billing you and see what terms you can work out.

As for the grandfather, without saying he's responsible (he isn't - the child - who was your responsibility - was standing too close to the game) you might ask if he can help you out financially with the bills, such as with a no-interest loan. Blaming him for it will not do anything but create more ill will between the two of you.

I still think he should help pay some of the bills instead of disappering out of his grandson life like he did. If not the bills then at least have to pay for the pain and suffering my son is going through because of this.

Save, I understand that you are upset about all of this, but it seems that you have a lot more hostility toward the man than what would normally be the case in this kind of situation. There wasn't negligence on the man's part nor intent to cause harm to his grandson. You allowed your son to stand in the wrong place, not him. It was a freak accident. You said that he was upset the day it happened but since then, you haven't heard from him. Did you by any chance yell, curse, scream, blame, threaten, and generally go off on a rant on him when this happened? That would certainly keep me from making follow up calls.

You think that he should help pay the bills. Okay. Then ask him for help. Don't immediately jump into a lawsuit and further divide your family over this, when you have a logical & reasonable way to approach the situation. You don't get what you don't ask for. If you choose to sue him, the bottom line is, he has a better chance of winning this thing than you do.

Hello again, save:

You don't seem to understand. He did NOTHING WRONG! YOU are the one who is responsible for your son's injuries. You're the one who did something wrong. Why do you think somebody who did nothing wrong should pay anything?? You wouldn't. Nobody in their right mind would.

IF he did something wrong, I would be right with you. I would be telling you all sorts of things to do to get him to meet his responsibility. BUT HE HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY. You are the responsible one.

In the real world, people who are not responsible for things just don't jump up and volunteer to pay. You don't do that. Nobody does that. To expect someone to do that, and to sue them over it, especially a family member, is actually a crazy thing to do.

excon

Hey excon, I am having some problems with my system running slow so I can't give out reps at the moment. But, you are absolutely right. I believe that if Save gets into court with this, the Judge will tear him a new one for wasting the courts time and putting his son in such a dangerous situation.

I don't see why Save just can't ask nicely if Grandpa would be willing to help him out a bit with the cost. Not that it is Grandpa's fault, but if the old man is financially able to help out and is willing to do so, then the problem is resolved. But, Save, keep in mind that if he isn't willing or can't afford to, you don't have the basis for a lawsuit. The Judge would blame you for the accident for not ensuring your son's safety. The negligence is on your part, not Grandpas, as we all have been telling you.

Whose home was this at, if this was your grandfathers house, maybe their homeowners insurance. But this is why of course we need and should have health insurance on our children, Do you not have any health insurance.

But if you were there, and you allowed the child to stand in a unsafe place, the person responsible would be you.

I can understand that the grandfather should want to help, but I am not sure you can force him. But for heavens name, you want to sue the child's grandfathers.

Thanks for all the input