Child injured at friend's house

My 8 year old son was playing at a friends house and tripped on a pool cover. He smashed his face into concrete or brick, maybe the coping around the pool. He already had braces on his upper teeth. The brakes were knocked off, some of his fron 6 teeth knocked back into his mouth, some pushed up further into the jaw. He also took a large chip out of one of his adult incisors. So far we have had two ER visits (one ER recommended we go to another ER an hour away because pediatric dentist's were on call there). Followed up by visits to his orthodontist, an oral surgeon, his regular dentist and soon an endodontist.

Our concern now is when the bills start rolling in and the unknown future medical bills based on if the teeth do not recover from the trauma, causing future work that may be needed.
From my understanding, the Friend's home insurance probably has "Medical Payments" in their insurance, which shouldn't require any legal action to access. Though, from what I can tell, is probably going to be something like $5000.

I am uncertain if my 8 year old running and tripping on a pool cover would be considered neglect by the home owner? From my research, this would be the decision point if liabillty would cover any of his medical cost.

Thoughts?

 

Sorry, I wrote this pretty loosely as my son's memory of the event is not great. I just wasn't sure where the line of negligence lies when it comes to children versus adults. I, as a parent, always feel much more responsibile for one of my children's friends playing at our house compared to an adult friend visiting. I also don't know exactly what the hazard looks he tripped on. I assumed there are scenarios with kids falling and getting hurt that would be considered negligence, such as a hole dug in the yard that wasn't taped or fenced off, or a rake laying in the middle of the yard that a kid fell on. We are going over today to get a feel for what occured. Ideally I am hoping the medical payments cover the cost of the damage or are at least close. Thanks for the quick feedback. I just needed an understanding as I have never dealt with any scenario like this.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far.


The pool is not completely enclosed in a fence, it is part of the back yard. Though from the driveway to the backyard is a staircase as the backyard is elevated and there is a continuous fence with a gate between the two. Pretty much, if you exit into the backyard, you are in the pool area.


We finally met up with the friend's father, who witnessed it, and explained what happen. My son's story and the father's stories don't align, not sure any of this matters? I'll give both versions:

It was raining when all of this occurred and the pool cover was slick.


My son's recollection: He was chasing after his friend, who was on the other side of the pool. He didn't realize he was running heading towards the part of the pool cover that was unsupported (over the pool). He doesn't recall the fall. But he did say something like "I forgot about the pool" when the father helped him up and was leading him into the house to get looked at.


The father's recollection: The two kids were playing hide and seek, when my son walked across the yard and across the narrow part of the pool cover. He slipped and fell while walking on the pool cover suspended over the narrow entry part of the pool. As the father was walking my son in, my son mentioned "he forgot about the pool cover". The father mentioned the pool cover acts like a trampoline because of the spring connection points. I don't know if that attributed to the fall or just the fact it was raining and slick.


I also found the broken tooth fragment of his adult incisor on the pool cover.


Satellite view of property House


Picture of pool with approximate path of son and the coping he hit. Pool2

 

Thanks for your input. We have not inquired on medical payments as of yet, though that is next on our list. We are waiting for the ER visit bills to roll in.

 

The town code copies CT state code. CT state code states the house can serve as part of the barrier, though needs alarms on all windows and doors facing the pool. I wouldn't be surprised if the house doesn't have the alarms, though since the kids are allowed to play in the back yard around the pool, alarms wouldn't help. Also, they don't have a continuous fence around the pool, though the kids are allowed in the backyard, so a continuous fence wouldn't help. My wife mentioned that the mother at this house has mentioned wanted to fence around the pool area at some point, that would have helped, but too late for my son's teeth. I'm hoping this incident solidifies her plan to enclose the pool separate occccccjfkggdrbbfujfgtdgkvflleggtcdlrefekihdj
f the backyard eventually.


CT regulations for pool fence below:

• The fence must be at-least 4 feet high.
• There must be no more than a 2’ gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground.
• The fencing can not have any protrusions and must be a solid barrier - a stone wall that is climbable does not serve as a fence.
• The gap between horizontal pieces should be less than 45”.
• Fences made of criss-cross or lattice nature should have openings no larger than 1.75”.
• For split rail or board and post fences, safety mesh must be attached with openings no larger than 2.25”.
• Access gates should have self-latching devices. When the latch is located less than 54” above the bottom of the gate, you must put the closing mechanism on the pool side of the fence.
• If the side of a home or structure is to serve as a barrier, the first floor doors and/or windows must have an audible alarm installed.