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Oregon child suffers personal injury in hospital accident

On Behalf of | Mar 8, 2013 | Personal Injury |

A little girl from Oregon has battled cancer of the kidney twice since 2007. This has been a difficult struggle for the 11-year-old. Recently however, her struggles were intensified after she suffered personal injury when she became engulfed in flames in a local hospital room.

According to a recent report, the girl was in the hospital because she fell at school and hit her head. When she lost consciousness, doctors felt that she needed to be medically reviewed. While at the medical facility, the child washed the table attached to her bed with a hand sanitizer.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the hand sanitizer went ablaze after the child rubbed her alcohol covered hands on her shirt. The child suffered third degree burns on her neck, arms, earlobes and chest. The flames were extinguished when her father came to the rescue and used his body to put out the fire.

This girl has not only suffered a debilitating illness in the form of cancer, but she now must recover from the pain of third degree burns on a large part of her body. The personal injury could have lasting effects, including the continuance of the nightmares that her parents say the incident caused. As she continues to heal from her terrifying ordeal, she and her parents retain the right to pursue a claim for monetary damages under Oregon’s personal injury laws. A successfully litigated claim could assist the family with the costs associated with the emotional and physical recovery from this unfortunate tragedy.

Source: New York Daily News, “11-year-old Oregon cancer survivor catches fire in freak hospital accident,” Lee Moran, Feb. 20, 2013

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