In January of 2006, grandmother Hannalore Hoffmann offered to help her daughter by taking her 6-month-old granddaughter Molly when the child didn't go back to sleep after an early morning feeding. It was 5:30 a.m., and the Australian family was on vacation together at a rental cottage. Hoffman held the baby in her arms as she headed downstairs, but she stumbled on the stairs -- and unfortunately, she fell to the bottom, still grasping little Molly.
The baby was badly injured, and today the 5-year-old girl is severely disabled as a result of the fall.
It sounds like a tragic, random accident ... but shockingly, Hoffman's daughter and son-in-law sued her for tripping on those steps in 2006. Even more shocking: this week the court ruled against the grandmother and found her legally responsible for the child's head injuries.
In court, Hoffman claimed that she had been to the holiday home several times and knew the staircase well. She'd asked her daughter to keep the light on in the room to illuminate the stairs—but she didn't turn on the staircase lights themselves, out of concern she'd wake other family members.
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Although she says she descended slowly and carefully, she still lost her footing towards the bottom, and although she reached for the balustrade it didn't stop her fall.
In his court decision on Tuesday, Justice Robert Shallcross Hulme said,
Did (Hoffmann) exercise such care in this case? In my view she did not. I accept that she thought that she was being careful. I accept that often babies are attended to in the middle of the night, and in order that other members of a household are not disturbed, without lights being turned on. Nevertheless, when regard is had to the totality of circumstances ... I am persuaded that she did not take that reasonable care.
So now liability has been established and I assume they'll move on to damages, and this grandmother—who has surely lost any kind of family connection with her daughter and granddaughter by now, not to mention dealing with the guilt—will probably lose every last cent show owns.
I don't know about you, but I think it's unbelievably awful the family sued this woman. I mean, assuming she wasn't DRUNK or something, this sounds like the sort of accident that could have happened to anyone. Yes, she probably should have turned on the light, but it was a mistake made at 5:30 a.m. while she was trying to help the whole family get some sleep—and who's to say that would have stopped her from falling anyway?
The accident is tragic enough on its own, I can't imagine how it could possibly help anyone to break up the family for the sake of a lawsuit. I feel terrible for everyone involved, but maybe especially for Mrs. Hoffman, who surely would give anything to go back to that morning ... and let her daughter be the one to deal with her wakeful baby.
What do you think of this story? Can you imagine suing your own parent for an accident that happened on their watch?
Image via Flickr/lilzeto
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Comments 154
i feel so sorry for everyone involved. the grandmother should not have been sued - it's ridiculous. it's not like she tossed the baby down the stairs. the parents should be ashamed of themselves.
No matter what this family will always be broken now. The grandmother already feels horrible about falling and injuring her granddaughter (I'm sure) and the little girl will always have a disability. The parents just seem mean and vindictive in this. They may not have meant to be like that but that is what most of us perceive. They are hurt their daughter will never be like all the other children but that is no reason to sue their mother. I feel for the little girl in all of this. Depending on her injuries, she may not even know what is going on but if she does, I bet her parents have painted her grandmother in a horrible light and no matter what, she will never have the love only a grandmother can give.
This is what our society as a whole has become. Very Sad! What does anyone have to gain by this lawsuit? Grandma is forever scarred already by the haunting memories of that day and the feeling that she caused her grand daughters disabilities. THAT in itself is enough for someone to seriously contemplate suicide. But then to have your own daughter sue you is beyond comprehension for me. What a sad reflection on society today. If there really ever was an Armageddon, and humans had a chance to ask why? I would expect something like this would be a pretty reasonable answer as to why the human race deserves it! Forgiveness, and selfLESSness, have been replaced by hate, greed, and selfishness! We ALL should be ashamed. Because these people, unfortunately, are only one example of millions of disgraceful acts everyday. If this doesn't prove that humans are evolving in reverse, I don't know what does!
Yeah, I thought about the insurance agreement also. Only one problem, agreements don't normally end up in court with a judges decison. Besides, we know it wasn't a homeowners Insurance because they were at a vacation rental cottage. And NO ONE carries personal liability insurance outside a dwelling or vehicle. So aside from suing the Cottage Rental property, which WOULD probably have had insurance, what OTHER insurance is there to sue? Oh that's right, I think All State has something called Grandmas Insurance! WRONG!!! There is no such thing! This was a civil court case. No way if this was an insurance agreement that they would drag their mother/mother-in law, into court and drag her through the mud to relive the horible accident and officially place blame on her for the whole world to see. There is no such thing as personal insurance. Your person is not something that can be insured "other" than life insurance. And this case wouldn't be covered by that type of insurance.
Unluckily, with the way the court systems often work, in many cases insurance won't assist in paying for medical care unless a lawsuit is filed. I've seen several families forced to sue one another, in order to have the insurance (that they pay for on a monthly basis) pay for a disabled family member.
This is heartbreaking to say the least. I could only imagine what the grandmother is going through. Maybe someday her daughter and son-in-law will come to realize they reacted out of sheer stress knowing their baby is now disabled for life. The lights being on would not prevent someone losing their footing while carrying anything down the stairs.
When I was 10 yrs old, I fell down the stairs while holding my baby sister, during the day. One of my brothers had left a car on the stairs and my foot found it. Of course, before my dad knew that, he started yelling at me for being careless. My mom straightened him out. She wasn't hurt, just scared because it scared me so. I went down on my behind and held her close to me.