A six-year-old girl, paralyzed in a car wreck since she was 20 months old, has been awarded a settlement of over $4 million to compensate her for the years of medical care, technology and equipment she will need for the remainder of her life, as reported by The Bakersfield Californian.
The California Highway Patrol is responsible for paying the award.
Bakersfield-based attorney, Daniel Rodriguez, represented the child, K.M. Rodriguez said that the multi-million dollar settlement would compensate K.M. for a lifetime of necessary medical attention.
On April 7, 2006 T.L.H. Jr., fleeing police in a stolen truck, crashed into a Geo Prism driven by L.R.,17, at Fairfax Road and Lexington Avenue. Following the truck was a police cruiser that also crashed into the Geo.
L.R. died, K.M. was paralyzed and T.L.H. Jr. was sentenced to almost two decades in prison.
Rodriguez alleged in court that it was due to an ill thought out maneuver made by police personnel that cause K.M.’s paralysis.
Rodriguez argued that the CHP officer didn’t supply the proper support to the child’s neck or spine. He said, “According to witnesses at the scene, the baby's head was moving like a windshield wiper.”
Rodriguez allowed that the officer made the right decision in choosing to remove K.M. from the wrecked vehicle, but, he failed to provide the correct basic safety features.
Paramedics also testified that they were concerned with the way the child was being held by the officer. A photograph from the scene shows K.M. being carried in the officer’s right arm.
Court documents show that one of the paramedics at the scene didn’t want to touch the child as he didn’t want to be held accountable for any possible spinal injuries.
K.M. attends the first grade confined to a wheelchair – with limited use of her arms and hands, no control over her bowels and she must use a urinary catheter.
The 5th District Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to proceed last year after a Kern County judge had previously tossed out the case.
In the appeal’s court it was noted that the CHP officer should have attempted to “immobilize her spine by placing her on a flat surface as soon as possible or at least to adequately support her neck and spine while carrying her.”
CHP had contended that the officer had to remove the child from the car because she “appeared to be in physical distress.” CHP further stated that the paramedics didn’t come equipped with the correct size of equipment and directed the officer to move the child over to them.
The Bakersfield Police Department has since begun a comprehensive review process regarding incidents involving their officers and others – in any instance where a person was left seriously injured or killed.
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