Boat Explosion in Pompano Beach, FL Changes Lives Forever
This resident from Stamford, CT never expected that her life would be changed so drastically on that summer day in 2006. At 65 years old, she had retired from the restaurant business, was living with her fiancé, and spent her days caring for her 87 year old mother. She and her fiance’ loved to spend their free time together dancing.
Our client, the victim in this Florida boat accident case, had just arrived in Florida to visit her children and their families. After being picked up at the airport by her daughter and granddaughter, they went to her son’s home for a brief visit. During this visit, her son wanted to show them the boat he had recently purchased. Unfortunately, what occurred next would alter all of their lives forever.
The victim, her daughter and son boarded the boat, and as her son tried to start the engines, there was a loud “pop” and then a blast which threw the daughter and son off the boat and into the water. Unfortunately for our client, she had gone below to view the galley and was trapped.
Luckily, the daughter was able to climb back on the boat and pull her mother to safety, but not before her mother had been burned over 52% of her body, including severe burns on her face, neck, head, chest, the fronts and backs of both arms, including both hands, and the palms of both hands, both thighs, both lower legs, and at locations on both of her legs and right hand, the skin was literally falling off due to the severe burns received. Both the son and daughter also received burns, but they were nowhere near the extent of the burns their mother endured.
After being rushed to the hospital and then flown by helicopter to the burn unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital, the victim spent almost eight agonizing months in excruciating pain, enduring numerous surgeries, skin grafts and infections, with extensive periods on a ventilator.
The victim in this case will never fully recover from her serious burn injuries and since her return to Connecticut, she has faced many, many hours of rehabilitation and several lengthy hospital stays with additional surgeries.
It is sad to note that the experts for the plaintiff in this Florida boat accident case have stated that all of this could have been avoided if some common sense precautions had been taken in this case, such as:
- Opening the hatch and inspecting the engine compartment;
- Opening the hatch to the engine compartment to evacuate gas vapors;
- Adequately maintaining the vessel to insure that there were no gas
leaks from the fuel tanks, pipes or engine system; and - Leaving the engine compartment blowers on for a sufficient length of
time to evacuate the gas vapors from the engine compartment.
Thankfully for this victim, one of the insurance companies in this case has tendered its check in partial settlement. However, it will not begin to meet the future medical needs of this victim, and it is hoped that the remaining defendant will step up and offer an amount sufficient to allow her to obtain the care and treatment she will continue to need in the future.
