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AN AUSTRALIAN schoolgirl was in Singapore on a family holiday three years ago when she was struck on the head in a collision with another skier at a cable ski park at East Coast Park.
The incident on Jan 12, 2009, left 12-year-old Jenna comatose, leading to multiple organ failure that required her to go on kidney dialysis.
She only awoke from the coma after two months, during which time she had part of her feet amputated. Now 15, she needs the help of a wheelchair to move around and cannot walk more than 10 to 15 metres unaided.
The list of her alleged injuries is long and extensive.
She is now suing the cable ski park operator TT Leisure for negligence through her father, also an Australian citizen. She had been on holiday with him, his girlfriend and their baby daughter when the incident occurred.
Their lawyers, Mr Ian Lim and Ms Nicole Wee Yu Ping, of TSMP Law Corporation, filed the lawsuit in the High Court in early October this year.
We are not using the real names of Jenna or her father as she is a minor. They live in Perth, Western Australia.
She is seeking damages for loss of amenity, injury, pain and suffering, and loss of earning capacity.
She is also asking for special damages which include her medical expenses, accommodation and airfare amounting to A$270,000 (S$355,600).
Her future expenses, such as medication and medical equipment, are estimated to cost A$16,000 a year.
TT Leisure, through its lawyer, Mr Chopra Sarbjit Singh, is denying the allegations and claims that Jenna herself was negligent.
It is also seeking to bring in a third party, the skier who collided into Jenna, into the lawsuit. (See report below.)
The operator claims that the skier, who is also from Australia, was negligent and contributed to the incident.
The court has allowed third-party notice to be served on the man.
A pre-trial conference on the case was held on Monday.
In her statement of claim, Jenna, who described herself as a competent swimmer but a beginner at kneeboarding, said she started kneeboarding at the ski park lagoon at around 5.30pm on Jan 12, 2009.
At around 7.45pm, she fell off the kneeboard at the third bend from the lagoon's launch point. As instructed by ski park staff, she started swimming towards the nearest edge of the lagoon to get out of the water.
At this time, the skier, who was behind her, was making a jump on his wakeboard at the same bend where she had fallen off.
As he allegedly did not see her fall into the water, he aimed to land his jump at the spot where she was swimming.
Moreover, he was concentrating on executing his jump and experienced a momentary difficulty in adjusting to the sudden change of light intensity at the bend where a stadium-style spotlight was situated, said her statement of claim.
He only spotted her in the water when he was in the air coming down from the jump.
By then, it was too late to avoid slamming into her at a high speed. His left leg struck her head.
The impact allegedly knocked her comatose and she surfaced with the helmet she had been wearing on her head hanging loosely from her neck by its strap.
The skier helped her from the water to the bank of the lagoon.
Jenna claims that the ski park staff did not go to her aid immediately and did not even realise anything was amiss until people started running over.
Allegedly, it was a bystander who called for an ambulance and the staff only made the call when her father's girlfriend later asked them to do so.
The ambulance arrived only about 45 minutes after the incident. The ski park allegedly did not cease operations immediately after the incident.
She claims the operator was negligent by allowing inexperienced children to kneeboard together with experienced adults without ensuring extra time lags between them.
TT Leisure also allegedly failed to ensure that the lagoon, which had only four stadium-style spotlights at four corners, was adequately lit at regular intervals.
The operator also allegedly did not have lifeguards on duty or staff members stationed at regular intervals along the perimeter of the lagoon to ensure safety.
Staff members were only stationed at the single launch point.
She also claims that none of the workers appeared to be medically trained to handle medical emergencies involving trauma.
One staff member tried to move Jenna and had to be "forcibly told" by bystanders not to do so as it was dangerous to move a trauma victim, said the claim.
IN ITS defence, TT Leisure claimed that it had assured Jenna's father and his girlfriend that the ski park was safe for children only if instructions were followed.
At a safety briefing that its staff gave her father, he was told that kneeboarders were to swim out of the way as soon as possible after falling while keeping a look-out for other users, and that to avoid any collision, they were to dip their head under the water to get out of the way of those who are on the water.
The fallen kneeboarder has to swim to the closest shore only when it is clear.
It claims that Jenna's father had repeated to her these and other instructions given at the briefing.
Two staff members also conducted separate checks to ensure her helmet and life vest were securely fastened.
Other safety measures, implemented at all times, include lowering the cable speed from about 30kmh to 27kmh at night, not using all available cables at night to give users more time to react, ensuring that staff have professional first-aid training and that at least one staff member trained in first aid is on duty at all times.
The operator claims that its staff members had attended to Jenna as soon as they could.
First aid
One staff member, who had first-aid training, placed her in the "recovery position" as he noticed she was coughing and put his fingers into her mouth to keep it open for safety until the ambulance arrived.
He also loosened the still securely fastened helmet she was wearing, repeatedly called her name, tapped her shoulder and pinched her toes.
Meanwhile, staff at the office called for an ambulance without being asked, it claimed.
The operation of the ski park facilities was also slowed down to about 15kmh, it claimed.
TT Leisure claims that Jenna was negligent by not following the instructions given at the safety briefing. She allegedly also failed to keep her life vest and helmet on at all times.
The operator claims that the skier who collided into her was negligent as well as he failed to evade or avoid Jenna by passing or skiing around her and executed the jump before looking ahead.
Before the incident, he had allegedly been caught twice by staff members for jumping using the wrong technique, leading him to fall at high speed.
He had been warned that it was dangerous but continued to do it until he crashed into Jenna on his third try.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
The incident on Jan 12, 2009, left 12-year-old Jenna comatose, leading to multiple organ failure that required her to go on kidney dialysis.
She only awoke from the coma after two months, during which time she had part of her feet amputated. Now 15, she needs the help of a wheelchair to move around and cannot walk more than 10 to 15 metres unaided.
The list of her alleged injuries is long and extensive.
She is now suing the cable ski park operator TT Leisure for negligence through her father, also an Australian citizen. She had been on holiday with him, his girlfriend and their baby daughter when the incident occurred.
Their lawyers, Mr Ian Lim and Ms Nicole Wee Yu Ping, of TSMP Law Corporation, filed the lawsuit in the High Court in early October this year.
We are not using the real names of Jenna or her father as she is a minor. They live in Perth, Western Australia.
She is seeking damages for loss of amenity, injury, pain and suffering, and loss of earning capacity.
She is also asking for special damages which include her medical expenses, accommodation and airfare amounting to A$270,000 (S$355,600).
Her future expenses, such as medication and medical equipment, are estimated to cost A$16,000 a year.
TT Leisure, through its lawyer, Mr Chopra Sarbjit Singh, is denying the allegations and claims that Jenna herself was negligent.
It is also seeking to bring in a third party, the skier who collided into Jenna, into the lawsuit. (See report below.)
The operator claims that the skier, who is also from Australia, was negligent and contributed to the incident.
The court has allowed third-party notice to be served on the man.
A pre-trial conference on the case was held on Monday.
In her statement of claim, Jenna, who described herself as a competent swimmer but a beginner at kneeboarding, said she started kneeboarding at the ski park lagoon at around 5.30pm on Jan 12, 2009.
At around 7.45pm, she fell off the kneeboard at the third bend from the lagoon's launch point. As instructed by ski park staff, she started swimming towards the nearest edge of the lagoon to get out of the water.
At this time, the skier, who was behind her, was making a jump on his wakeboard at the same bend where she had fallen off.
As he allegedly did not see her fall into the water, he aimed to land his jump at the spot where she was swimming.
Moreover, he was concentrating on executing his jump and experienced a momentary difficulty in adjusting to the sudden change of light intensity at the bend where a stadium-style spotlight was situated, said her statement of claim.
He only spotted her in the water when he was in the air coming down from the jump.
By then, it was too late to avoid slamming into her at a high speed. His left leg struck her head.
The impact allegedly knocked her comatose and she surfaced with the helmet she had been wearing on her head hanging loosely from her neck by its strap.
The skier helped her from the water to the bank of the lagoon.
Jenna claims that the ski park staff did not go to her aid immediately and did not even realise anything was amiss until people started running over.
Allegedly, it was a bystander who called for an ambulance and the staff only made the call when her father's girlfriend later asked them to do so.
The ambulance arrived only about 45 minutes after the incident. The ski park allegedly did not cease operations immediately after the incident.
She claims the operator was negligent by allowing inexperienced children to kneeboard together with experienced adults without ensuring extra time lags between them.
TT Leisure also allegedly failed to ensure that the lagoon, which had only four stadium-style spotlights at four corners, was adequately lit at regular intervals.
The operator also allegedly did not have lifeguards on duty or staff members stationed at regular intervals along the perimeter of the lagoon to ensure safety.
Staff members were only stationed at the single launch point.
She also claims that none of the workers appeared to be medically trained to handle medical emergencies involving trauma.
One staff member tried to move Jenna and had to be "forcibly told" by bystanders not to do so as it was dangerous to move a trauma victim, said the claim.
IN ITS defence, TT Leisure claimed that it had assured Jenna's father and his girlfriend that the ski park was safe for children only if instructions were followed.
At a safety briefing that its staff gave her father, he was told that kneeboarders were to swim out of the way as soon as possible after falling while keeping a look-out for other users, and that to avoid any collision, they were to dip their head under the water to get out of the way of those who are on the water.
The fallen kneeboarder has to swim to the closest shore only when it is clear.
It claims that Jenna's father had repeated to her these and other instructions given at the briefing.
Two staff members also conducted separate checks to ensure her helmet and life vest were securely fastened.
Other safety measures, implemented at all times, include lowering the cable speed from about 30kmh to 27kmh at night, not using all available cables at night to give users more time to react, ensuring that staff have professional first-aid training and that at least one staff member trained in first aid is on duty at all times.
The operator claims that its staff members had attended to Jenna as soon as they could.
First aid
One staff member, who had first-aid training, placed her in the "recovery position" as he noticed she was coughing and put his fingers into her mouth to keep it open for safety until the ambulance arrived.
He also loosened the still securely fastened helmet she was wearing, repeatedly called her name, tapped her shoulder and pinched her toes.
Meanwhile, staff at the office called for an ambulance without being asked, it claimed.
The operation of the ski park facilities was also slowed down to about 15kmh, it claimed.
TT Leisure claims that Jenna was negligent by not following the instructions given at the safety briefing. She allegedly also failed to keep her life vest and helmet on at all times.
The operator claims that the skier who collided into her was negligent as well as he failed to evade or avoid Jenna by passing or skiing around her and executed the jump before looking ahead.
Before the incident, he had allegedly been caught twice by staff members for jumping using the wrong technique, leading him to fall at high speed.
He had been warned that it was dangerous but continued to do it until he crashed into Jenna on his third try.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
