A 43-YEAR-OLD American insurance executive who was paralysed in a diving accident at the Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa Resort in Rose Hall, Jamaica last year settled a negligence lawsuit against the hotel this week in a Miami federal court for a whopping US$17.5 million.
The settlement has been described as one of the largest personal injury settlements in the history of Florida.
The American man, Brian Schiner who is a certified recreational diver was injured after a diving excursion at the Ritz Carlton Resort on January 30, 2001 went haywire.
According to report in Wednesday's Miami Herald, on the day of the accident the boat's dive master said the group would descend to 50 feet and explore the reef for 20 to 30 minutes. Schiner was among the first down the buoy line and was instructed to wait at the bottom of the line for the other divers.
The slip-up reportedly occurred, however, when Schiner was dropped to 160 feet at the wrong spot. He waited about 10 to 12 minutes for the other
divers who never showed up. He ran out of air while waiting and he shot to the surface without decompressing and passed out, suffering the bends and an arterial air gas embolism.
Things took a turn for the worse at this point as there was no oxygen on the boat, and no hyperbaric chamber at the on-shore clinic. Doctors eventually transferred Schiner to a facility with a chamber. Two days later, he arrived in Miami by air ambulance, where he underwent treatment at Mercy Hospital's Diving Medical Center.
Schiner suffered a ''very serious'' spinal cord injury, says Dr. Ivan Montoya, 44, an experienced diver who is the centre's medical director. Schiner's hospital bills are almost at $800,000.
The hotel chain's lawyers argued that one of the main reasons for the huge settlement was as a result of Schiner's projected earning capacity -- up to $70 million. Schiner won jurisdiction in Miami because the Ritz-Carlton sells travel packages out of its Coral Gables office. Schiner, a father of four children ages 5 through 13, is paralysed from the chest down. He was not in court Tuesday when lawyers announced the settlement to U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno.
