SEAGABarbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
A 21-YEAR-OLD woman has sued three companies including Town and Country Resorts operated by Opposition Leader Edward Seaga to recover more than $30 million for spinal injuries she suffered after diving at Mammee Bay beach, St. Ann, eight years ago.
The plaintiff, Alexander Rickham, 21, student of Bath University, London, who is now a quadriplegic has accused the companies of failing to put warning signs at the beach that the water was shallow.
Rickham and her mother who were guests at the Enchanted Gardens Hotel and Spa, Ocho Rios, St. Ann, had gone to the beach to meet friends on July 30, 1995 when the accident occurred. She was 13 years old at the time.
She said that while at the beach she ran into the water and dived. After the dive, she realised she was face down in the water and was looking at the sand. She felt paralysed and her mother and friends took her out of the water. She was treated locally first and then received treatment in Cuba, USA and England but her condition has not improved as she is crippled from the neck. She said she was paralysed as a result of the dive she took in the shallow water.
Rickham alleged in the suit that Enchanted Gardens and Spa Ltd., and Town and Country Resorts which managed the hotel at the time of the incident, Consulting Services Ltd., of which Mr Seaga is a director and Mammee Bay Club Ltd., were negligent and therefore responsible for her injury. Mammee Bay Ltd., is sued because it gave permission for the operators of the hotel to use the beach.
When the suit came for hearing last week, attorneys-at-law Patrick Foster and Garth McBean, instructed by DunnCox, took a preliminary point that the hotel was not a legal entity and therefore could not be sued.
Mr. Justice Basil Reid upheld the submission and ordered that the suit be struck out against the hotel.
Rickham admitted under cross-examination by Mr Foster that when she dived the water was below her knees. She said also that she was an experienced swimmer and swam competitively for the Y M Speedos and Campion College up to the time of the incident. She said she had been to the beach on many occasions prior to the accident and had been going to the beach since she was three years old.
The judge after hearing submissions from the lawyers representing the parties, reserved judgment.
Mr. Foster submitted that here was no negligence on the party of Town and Country Resorts because it had no duty to warn users of the beach of the existence of shallow water. He submitted that the plaintiff's misfortune was caused regrettably by her own negligence.
DIVING HEAD FIRST
He said as an experienced swimmer and a child of over 13 years she ought to have been aware of the dangers of diving head first into shallow water.
Attorney-at-law David Batts who is representing Mammee Bay Ltd., submitted that although his client was the licensee of the beach, the occupancy of the beach was vested in Town and Country Resorts. He said any liability arising from its use would be the responsibility of Town and Country Resorts.
Attorneys -at-law Jeffrey Daley and Tavia Dunn who represented the plaintiff, argued that there was a duty on the part of the defendants to warn users of the existence of shallow water at the beach by placing warning signs. He said because of the failure to do so, the plaintiff dived in the shallow water and sustained serious injuries.
