Near drowning

$500,000

A young boy and his sister were visiting grandparents in New Hampshire. The boy ventured outside in the early spring to walk around. He looked in the fence and saw a covering on the in-ground swimming pool. There was no lock on the gate and the handle was low enough for him to reach and open. He walked in and thought maybe it would be different to walk on top of the pool by traversing the cover. He did not see that the ice had melted and there remained 2-3 feet of water in the tight pool covering when he stepped in. The sides and bottom were slippery with green moss. He slipped and apparently hit his head and fell backwards into the cold icy water. He was found sometime later alive, but barely breathing due to the water in his lungs.

Doctors tried to bring him back, but he was comatose. He was transferred to a special hospital in Massachusetts for brain trauma victims, where he continued to grow on a feeding tube until he passed at age 14 from complications of pneumonia. He remained in a vegetative state with his big blue eyes open until his death. Attorney Goodman settled the case for the maximum homeowners policy limits.