A judge has approved a €25,000 settlement for a toddler who fell 10 feet onto concrete paving through a gap in glass panelling where one of the panels was missing.
Barrister Eavanna Fitzgerald told the Circuit Civil Court today that as his mum tried to unlock an entrance gate to a Dublin apartment block her son, 19-months-old Alex Szabo, decided to have a peek through a glass panelled barrier.
Ms Fitzgerald, who appeared with Maguire McClafferty Solicitors for Alex and his mum Ewa Stecyk, said the child and his mother were unaware that one of the large glass panels was missing.
Landed on his feet
"The boy walked through the space and fell three metres onto a concrete surface,” Ms Fitzgerald told Judge John O’Connor. “Luckily, despite the very serious circumstances, there was a good outcome as he landed on his feet, falling forward on his hands and knees.”
Judge O’Connor heard the accident happened in October 2017 at The Concert Building, within a block of apartments at Parkwest, Dublin 12. Ms Stecyk had been trying to open an entrance gate at the time.
Counsel said the boy had injured his feet, knees and hands and had hit his head. His mother, who lives at Clear Water Court, South Royal Canal Park, Ashtown, Dublin 15 had brought him to Crumlin Children’s Hospital where x-rays revealed he had not suffered any fractures.
Settlement
Ms Fitzgerald told Judge O’Connor that his colleague Judge Kathryn Hutton, when a settlement of €20,000 had been offered last year, had adjourned the case asking for further medical reports. Paediatric orthopaedic surgeon Dr Paula M. Kelly had since reported that Alex had not suffered any long term orthopaedic injuries. Counsel recommended the offer.
The boy, through his mother, had sued a number of Parkwest Management companies which have registered addresses at Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, and were the legal occupiers of The Concert Building in Parkwest.
Judge O’Connor, approving a new €25,000 settlement offer, said that while the boy had walked with a limp for a number of weeks he had made a full recovery.
