We get to enjoy our swimming pools in Orlando, Florida for most of the year. Sometimes accidents happen in and around pools, resulting in illness, injury, or even death.
The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you get the compensation you deserve if you got sick or hurt or a close relative died because of a swimming pool accident. Call us today at 1-800-747-3733 to get a free consultation. Our Orlando swimming pool accident lawyers are here to help you recover the damages you deserve.
What We Prove to Win a Swimming Pool Accident Claim
To hold someone responsible for your losses from a swimming pool accident, an Orlando swimming pool accident lawyer have to prove all three of these elements:
- A legal duty of care. The person we sue for compensation must have owed you a legal duty of care.
- Breach of the duty of care. When someone fails to measure up to the standards of the applicable duty of care, it is negligence.
- Causation.
Who Can Be Responsible for a Swimming Pool Injury
Florida law can hold anyone liable for the harm they cause when other people get injured because of the negligent person’s carelessness. The responsible party will depend on the facts of your situation, but the typical defendants in pool accident cases can include people and companies like:
- The swimming pool owner
- The swimming pool manufacturer
- The company that installed the pool
- The party whose job it is to maintain safe, clean, uncontaminated water
- The person whose carelessness caused harm to you, such as someone who swam in the pool when sick or someone whose horseplay around the pool resulted in physical injury to you.
Types of Swimming Pool Injuries
When you think of a swimming pool injury, your first thought is probably about things that can happen in the water. It is also possible to get hurt on the edge of the pool and the hard surface area surrounding the pool. Here are some of the more frequent types of pool injuries:
- Spinal injuries. If you fall on the edge of the swimming pool or hit the side or bottom of the pool when you jump in, you can damage your spinal cord. Many people have drowned because they could not swim due to paralysis from the spinal cord injury.
- Drowning. Everyone in and around a swimming pool should keep a close eye on others in the water. Both children and adults lose their lives to drowning, sometimes in a crowded pool where there were plenty of people who could have raised the person out of the water.
- Near-drowning. If a person survives being underwater for several minutes, she can suffer irreparable harm due to the lack of oxygen to the brain. Near-drowning survivors can experience lifelong learning disabilities, memory issues, and other lingering effects of brain damage. Some survivors of near-drownings go into a permanent vegetative state, where they remained for the rest of their lives.
- Waterborne illnesses. If the water is contaminated, people can suffer significant illnesses like E. coli infections, noroviruses, Legionnaires’ disease, parasites, and other bacterial and viral infections. No one should ever swim in a public or private pool when sick, particularly with gastrointestinal disturbances. The more people who use a swimming pool, the more likely the water is to be contaminated, at least for the short term.
- Head injuries. You can suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) if you strike your head by falling when outside of the pool, diving into the pool, or hitting the edge of the pool. Drowning is always a risk after a head injury because the TBI can cause the person to be confused or lose consciousness.
Damages for Swimming Pool Accidents in Orlando
The compensation you can collect will depend on the individual facts of your situation. Here are some examples of common damages in swimming pool accident claims:
- Medical expenses, which can include things like the ambulance, emergency room, hospital, doctors, surgery, lab work, prescription drugs, and physical therapy. This category can include any reasonable expense for the care you needed to treat the injury.
- Lost wages, if you missed getting paid wages, salary, self-employment, or other income because of the accident.
- Diminished earning capacity, if you cannot make as much money as before because of your injuries.
- Disability, if your injuries leave you unable to support yourself through gainful employment.
- Rehabilitation center, if you had to get treatment for a head, spinal cord, or other catastrophic injuries.
- Long-term care, if you suffered a devastating injury that causes you to need daily assistance for medical treatment and personal care.
- Pain and suffering, for the physical pain and emotional distress of your injuries.
- Other intangible damages, such as disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and the spouse’s claim for loss of consortium.
Getting Help for a Swimming Pool Accident Injury Claim
You do not have to figure out all the legal technicalities of your case. When we handle a swimming pool accident case, our Orlando swimming pool accident lawyers investigate the accident, gather the evidence, deal with the insurance company, and work hard to get you all the compensation you deserve.
If someone else’s carelessness caused you to suffer a swimming pool accident in Orlando, Florida, the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help. Call us today at 1-800-747-3733 for a free consultation. We do not charge upfront legal fees. Our legal fees come out of the settlement or award at the end.
We Can Help.
