Denied Treatment After Fracturing Foot at School...

by Melissa
(Shalimar, Florida)

When I picked my daughter up from school one day she was limping and whining that her foot hurt, she said she hurt it in physical education class. She told me she went to the nurse's office and wanted to call me, but they told her they didn't have my number (but they always used to call me for every little belly ache).

My daughter said her PE coach told her to walk it off. She also said she told her teacher and her teacher did nothing. She then got sent to tutoring and also complained to the teacher there.

After hearing all this from my daughter I called the school. They transferred my call to the nurse who first said she remember giving a little girl ice. She also said she was very sorry and that they usually always call the parents.

The nurse later called me back and said that the teacher told her my daughter fell and hit her knees, not her ankle and that my daughter didn't complain. Then she said my daughter never came to the nurse's office and maybe her ankle injury was an old injury, which it is not. My daughter has never sprained or broken a single bone in her body.

I took my daughter to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with a broken foot. We were sent to an orthopedic surgeon for follow up care. She is now in a cast for 2 weeks with a fractured foot. I am very upset I was not notified of my daughter's injury and that she had to walk around on a fractured foot all day long when no adult would help her.

Is there anything I can do about this? Is the school in any way responsible for her fractured foot? Should they in some way compensate her for her excessive pain and suffering since they failed to respond properly to her injury? Thank you for any information you can give.

Disclaimer: Information provided in your response is not formal legal advice, it is generic legal information and is based on the very limited information given in your question. You should always get a formal case evaluation from a licensed attorney.

ANSWER for "Denied Treatment After Fracturing Foot at School...":

Melissa (Shalimar, Florida):

From the facts you present it appears the school was at best uncaring, and at worst negligent. A school has a duty of care toward its students. The question is whether the school breached that duty, and if so, what relationship that breach had to her injuries. If the school did breach its duty, did that breach result in your daughter's injuries? It would seem not.

There is no doubt the school's apparent indifference resulted in at least some of your daughter's pain and suffering. The next question is whether that amount of pain and suffering makes it worth pursuing a legal claim, and possibly a lawsuit against the school?

You do have a legitimate claim. The reality of pursuing that claim will be necessitate retaining an attorney. You can always pursue your claim without an attorney, but unless you have specialized knowledge in school law, your efforts will be thwarted almost from the outset.

Find a personal injury attorney with experience in school litigation. It may take some legwork, but because most personal injury attorneys do not charge any fee for an initial office consultation it would be well worth your effort.

Since laws change frequently and across jurisdictions you should get a personalized case evaluation from an attorney licensed in your state (if you haven't already). Find an experienced local attorney to give you a FREE personalized case review here.

Best of luck,

Law Guy

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