Cruise passenger slips on spilt drink causing serious leg injury.
Cruise of a lifetime
Needing cruise ship accident lawyers was not on Anne’s radar when she booked the cruise of a lifetime.
Anne was a fit and active 83 year old. She had recently lost her husband and needed something to look forward to.
One of Anne’s children had relocated to London many years ago. Anne was a keen cruiser. The family therefore encouraged Anne to go on a cruise from Sydney to London to visit her son and grandchildren in style.
Anne booked the cruise. The thought of it brightened up her days when she was overcome with grief.
Slip on spilt drink
Two weeks into the cruise, the vessel was on a sea day between Singapore and Sri Lanka. Anne had made friends on the cruise, and was walking across the pool deck to meet some fellow passengers for a pre dinner drink.
The waters were a little choppy that evening, and Anne was mindful to walk slowly. As Anne walked past some tables, she suddenly slipped and fell to the floor. She was in excruciating pain and could not get up.
A bar server came to Anne’s assistance and helped her up onto a seat. Anne saw a puddle of liquid on the floor where she had fallen. The back of her white linen pants were also stained a light brown colour.
Onboard medical treatment
Anne was not able to walk. The crew therefore arranged for a nurse to come from the infirmary with a wheelchair.
Anne was taken to the infirmary. The back of her left leg was blue with bruising. She was given pain killers and an X-ray. The ship’s doctor advised that the image would be emailed to an onshore doctor and she would get the results in the morning. However, he suspected a torn hamstring. Anne’s leg was strapped and she was taken back to her room.
The next morning the ship’s doctor visited Anne in her room. He confirmed that she had a torn hamstring and advised that she would need to get off the boat for surgery. They were one day out from Colombo, and Anne would be disembarked there.
Repatriation to Australia
Anne was concerned about the prospect of being alone in Sri Lanka for surgery. With the help of her children, she therefore contacted her travel insurer who arranged for Anne to fly home from Columbo with a medical escort.
Once in Australia, Anne attended her local emergency department. She then fell under the Australian health system and had surgery.
Affect of injuries
Up until her injury, Anne had been active and felt young at heart. However, her injury immobilised her.
Anne was unable to get out and about as she once had. She put on weight. Her sleep was disturbed and she felt tired during the day. She lost her social life and could not look after her grandchildren like she used to.
When Anne did go out, she was paranoid that she would fall over and hurt herself again. She was sad that she was not able to continue her trip to London that she had been looking forward to so much. Her grief for the loss of her husband hit her harder than ever before.
Family seek advice from cruise ship accident lawyers
Concerned about their mum, Anne’s children researched cruise ship accident lawyers. They found Victoria Roy and reached out to enquire into Anne’s rights.
Victoria met with Anne and listened to her story. Victoria explained that Anne had compensation rights against the cruise line, and accepted her case on a no win no fee basis.
Cruise ship accident lawyers bring compensation claim
Victoria is one of Australia’s leading cruise ship accident lawyers with vast experience in cruise ship accident claims. She submitted a compensation claim to the cruise line on Anne’s behalf, and asked to view CCTV footage of the accident.
The CCTV footage revealed that a passenger had been carrying a pitcher of beer in the area that Anne fell around 7 minutes before the accident. The passenger was seen to spill some beer.
The cruise line denied liability on the basis that 7 minutes was not long enough to check for and clean spillages.
Victoria alleged that pitchers of beer should not have been carried by passengers in those sea conditions, that the flooring was unreasonably slippery, that the bar server in the area should have been on the lookout for spillages and either put a warning sign up or cleaned it immediately.
Victoria obtained a report from a maritime health and safety expert who analysed the weather and sea data for that day, and confirmed that the sea swell increased the risk of falls and that the cruise line did not take adequate precautions. He also made further negative findings about the cruise line’s health and safety procedures and choice of flooring.
Cruise ship accident lawyers win claim
After receiving the maritime health and safety expert’s report, the cruise line were prepared to enter settlement negotiations. Anne’s claim resolved for an amount that she was very happy with, without the need to go to court.
Sadly Anne suffered lasting effects from her injury and never returned to the same level of activity. However her claim brought her closure and money to make life easier. After her claim settled, the first thing that she did was book business class flights to London so that she could see her son and grandchildren in comfort after all.
Real client names and identifying features cannot be published for confidentiality reasons, both to maintain client confidentiality and in accordance with settlement agreements. The above case study is an amalgamation of our founder and principal solicitor Victoria Roy’s previous successful cases and are typical of the expertise of Victory Travel & Cruise Lawyers.
