Law question-Daughter Hurt at Camp?

Question

My 4 year old daughter goes to a camp 3 full days a week for 10 weeks. This summer camp costs $3,200 for the 10 weeks. Last week she came home all dirty and scraped up. When we asked her what happened she said she fell off the monkey bars. We asked who was there, and she said no one. Yesterday we got a call from the camp nurse that she hurt her wrist. The nurse said she thought she sprained it. We took her to the ER and the x-rays showed that she broke her wrist in two spots. My question is, why is a 4 yr old climbing monkey bars unattended.

Her two favorite things to do at camp are swim and go on the water park rides. Now for the rest of the summer she camp swim. We also have to keep her home from camp for a few days, at the camps request. Not only did she injure herself under their care, now we have to pay extra money and find a babysitter because she can’t go back to camp right away.

Any suggestions on what to do? I don’t know legal stuff…do you think we can get reimbursed for the camp she is missing and the Dr. bills?

Thank you for your input.

Answer 1

well for one thing i would not send her to that camp any more! if the people their can't watch the kids, then you don't know how safe it is for your kid. i think that they should pay for what they did by giving you free camp for the rest of the 10 weeks.

if you can't find anyone to watch your daughter, you could always ask people or friends if they know a good place or if one of your friends can watch her. but the last thing i would do is send her, anyone back there!

well i hope that your little girl is ok. buy and sorry for what happened.

Answer 2

You signed a paper explaining the rules and regulations.  You should have a copy of it.  I would read it to see if they are responsible for Dr. Bills if a kid is hurt at camp.  Most likely not.

Answer 3

Well first you need to get both sides of the story. Maybe she was at the monkey bars by herself cause she snuck over there, which would explain why there wasn't no supervision.

Kids hurt themselves, it happens.

You need to talk to them about getting back some of the money for those few days they have requested that she misses.

If nothing happens, then talk to a lawyer.

Answer 4

Yes I vvould call an attorney and talk to them, you should be reimbursed your money that you paid considering she cant go to camp anymore because of her injury. They should also pay for the medical bills since she vvas hurt under there care, accidents happen but if she vvasn't attended and she is only 4 then thats not right. Just talk to an attorney on vvhat to do and vvhat you can do.

Answer 5

Kids fall all the time. However, there is no excuse for your daughter being out of sight of an adult and I would be interested in knowing if the monkey bars were designed for children her age. All playground equipment comes with age recommendations. Have a little chat with the camp, but do not be surprised if the contract is pretty specific about your not getting money back. By the way, as the doctor about the rubber covers designed for casts so they can get wet.

Answer 6

Hmmm, I thought about this question from the motherly side, and I agree that I would want some money back...

But I'm also a business owner, and just so you get both perspectives, I'd say no way to giving you money back.  If you go to an amusement park for the day and it rains all day, they don't give you your money back.  Its out of their control.

If you daughter fell and hurt herself, even if somebody was standing RIGHT THERE, she could have still fallen and hurt her wrist.  She would still have had to go to the doctor and not been able to swim because of a cast, or whatever reason.  That camp isn't responsible for what happened to your daughter and how that prevents her from continuing her time there.

Really deep down, as a mother, i understand your perspective... I just thought I'd answer the question this way so you can think of both sides.

Good luck!

Answer 7

kids have accidents.  if your daughter was enjoying the camp, you should be grateful she has activities she enjoys to fill her holiday time with.  the doctor bills could just as easily have arisen from an accident at home, and i think you should accept them as part of raising a child.

you should ask for the camp to give you back the money for the days your daughter has missed, as it would've been possible for them to still have care of her - assuming you trust them to do so - without her being able to participate in the full range of activities.  they may well be willing to do this as a goodwill gesture - it's not good press for them to have a parent going round saying that their child was injured on camp and the parents ended up out of pocket for it.

if they don't, you should seek proper legal advice if you want to reclaim the money - but mostly trying to sue just means that prices for ALL camps - and potentially other daycare centres as well - rise as insurance costs go up to cover the potential losses over scraped knees.

your daughter might well not have been unattended playing on the monkey bars.  unless you're actually holding a child doing monkey bars, it's pretty hard to catch them before they hit the ground.  if you're holding the child, there's no point them playing on the monkey bars, you might as well carry them everywhere instead.

the nurse thinking that her wrist was just sprained is a very common error to make.  the way that children's bones break is not the same as adult bones - children have a much greater tendency to have green-stick fractures which do not go all the way through the bone and are often mistaken for sprains.

if you were unhappy with the level of care provided to your child in the first occasion, why did you send her back to people you didn't think were taking care of her?  if you are intending to send her back to the camp when she is allowed, you should abandon all thought of getting any money back for anything other than the days she missed.  doing so would only generate a negative attitude amongst camp staff towards you and your daughter's experience would be affected by this.  money back to cover babysitting is reasonable to ask for, as they could have looked after her in spite of her injuries.

if you intend to withdraw her from the camp altogether, then you should ask for the remainder of your money back to pay for an alternative.  again they may well be willing to do this as a goodwill and PR gesture.

Answer 8

In my opinion, these things happen all the time. I'm sure there are many children at that camp and the people monitoring them can't be looking at every single one at every single moment. If it's just for a few days, I don't think you can get reimbursed. Maybe, possibly, but not probably, you can get the bills paid. But if i were you, i wouldn't bother.

Answer 9

And you want to sue.  This is what's wrong with the world these days.