NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) — The family of a teenager critically injured by a falling tree in Jackson Square has filed a lawsuit against the city of New Orleans.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, July 19, in Orleans Civil District Court, names the city as a defendant in the lawsuit. Other defendants named in the lawsuit include ArborPro Inc., Bayou Tree Service, Inc., Smith Construction Company and Hudson Insurance Company.
The 17-year-old was visiting New Orleans with his family from San Antonio on July 7 when part of an 85-year-old oak tree fell in Jackson Square, hitting him in the head.
Attorney Morris Bart says the boy, identified in the lawsuit as Gavin Cristea, has a serious brain injury.
Bart says Cristea is still in the hospital recovering from the incident with his family by his side.
“There are so many unknowns right now,” the Cristea family said in a statement. “We don’t even know the extent of the damage to his brain and we already know he has many more surgeries ahead of him. It’s been a rollercoaster ride and every time things seem to be going well there’s a setback and they’re back to square one.”
Lawyers say the incident was preventable and the 85-year-old tree’s “total failure” began years earlier.
“The large tree that stood next to the bench had been in extremely poor condition for some time and was now on the brink of total failure,” the document said.
“It was avoidable, it shouldn’t have happened and it can’t happen again,” the Cristea family said. “We visited a major tourist attraction. How can a visitor feel safe anywhere? It didn’t have to take a kid smashing a tree for the city to take it seriously.”
SIMILAR POSTS
Lawyer wonders why city didn’t cordon off part of Jackson Square after first branch broke off
New video shows large tree limb snapping off 10 days before teenager was injured in Jackson Square
The lawsuit alleges that construction work around Jackson Square may have damaged the tree’s root system, resulting in a loss of “canopy volume” and green space, which can be seen in historical satellite imagery. It would then have been the arborist’s responsibility to identify the deficiencies and recommend an action plan for pruning the tree and preventing catastrophic branch failure.
“This cycle of decline continues without improvement until the tree finally fails and sheds several large branches,” the document says. “The Jackson Square Renovation Phase II project is informed and believed to have caused or contributed to the decline of the subject tree.”
The lawsuit states that as of January 2018, the decline in crown volume was significantly advanced and “stands out visually from the surrounding trees, which appear comparatively much more lush, vibrant, fuller, and greener.”
“If ArborPro Inc. properly identified the deficiencies in the offending tree,” the document continues, “then Bayou Tree Services and/or the City of New Orleans have failed to properly implement these recommendations and act on these alerts.”
As lawyers are demanding justice for the family, witnesses to the falling tree like Natalie Broz are still in shock.
“As a mother of a six-year-old, it really hurts to see a mother cry in shock at her child,” Broz said.
Broz is an intensive care unit nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital and was visiting New Orleans on vacation with her friend. They enjoyed the French Quarter and filmed a marching band playing in front of St. Louis Cathedral, while in the background you can see a tree branch falling in Jackson Square and people rushing to the crime scene.
Broz says she joined a group of two other nurses and a fire medic who were also in the French Quarter at the time of the collapse. They tried to stabilize Gavin’s head and neck while paramedics were on the way.
She says this incident stands out in her 16 years in the medical field.
“As I was doing the compressions, it was like my heart and body were aching, I had this overwhelming feeling,” she said. “It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. I would say the first three.”
Broz says the incident left her scarred but doubts it will ever be the same for Gavin and his family.
“Given the fact that he sustained such a serious injury, the chances of him getting better are very slim,” she said.
Lawyers for the family say they are working on setting up a GoFundMe page to help cover any expenses while the family stays in New Orleans.
Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Click here to report it. Please enter the title.
Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.
Copyright 2023 WVUE. All rights reserved.
www.fox8live.com
https://www.fox8live.com/2023/07/19/family-files-suit-against-city-new-orleans-after-jackson-square-tree-crushes-teen-boy/
