Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

An Illinois man apparently drowned this weekend while he was swimming to a raft. James Spurgeon, of Lisle, Illinois, was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon. Witnesses saw him swimming to a raft when he began struggling and went underwater. After he failed to resurface, a witness jumped into the water and began searching, but it was estimated that the victim was under water for about 10 minutes. The county coroner is investigating what caused him to struggle, a prior medical condition and drugs or alcohol have already been ruled out. Read more here.

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings

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A Chicago, Illinois family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a boat company. The boat company rented the deceased a boat without warning him that the local river was closed due to flooding. The wrongful death suit claims that the boat company was negligent and that as a result the boating accident could have been prevented. The boat accident resulted in an adult drowning and luckily two other boaters were saved while drowning by an onlooker. The suit also maintains that a defective product life vest was given to the deceased. The life vest was also rented from the boat company. To read the full story on this wrongful death negligence lawsuit click here.

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings , Boating Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Products liability , Wrongful Death

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A swimming pool drowning left a teen dead last week. The pool accident occurred when the youth drowned in an apartment complex’s swimming pool in a Chicago, Illinois suburb. The accident occurred after the teen and several friends trespassed into a gated swimming pool at night. The incident was declared an accidental drowning even though the teen did know how to swim. To read about this tragic incident and some safety swimming tips click here and drowning first aid click here.

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A landscaper from Illinois died this week after drowning in a pond. The man, Hugo Mercado, 23, was working at Well Manufacturing in Woodstock, Illinois when he apparently fell in a pond on the property. At 4:45 p.m. on Monday, police and paramedics were called to the location and found his body floating face down in the pond. Mercado was known to have had a seizure disorder, but it is not clear whether that played a role in his drowning. While Mercado was working in the yard and fell into a pond, summer time may entail increased numbers of drownings as pools are used more frequently. To read more about Mercado’s death, click here.

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings , Swimming Pool Accidents and Injuries

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Along with summer sunshine & hot weather both adults and children turn to swimming pools to keep cool. Pool safety precautions are necessary to make sure only those who can swim will gain entrance to pools. Some towns and cities are creating safety ordinance legislation to ensure pool safety and to prevent pool accidents. To read about one town’s mandatory pool fencing requirement to prevent pool drowning click here.

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Chicago, Illinois college student has died after a pond drowning. The student, 18 years old was declared dead by drowning. It is believed that he entered the pond to retrieve a volleyball and was unable to make it out. The man was rushed to the hospital in what officials hoped was just pool related injuries but the man was declared dead at the hospital. A fountain in the center of the pond may have played a role in the adult drowning accident. To read about this tragic story click here.

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A child was responsible for saving another toddler who was found to be drowning in a pool. Thankfully the drowning pool accident did not result in the death of the toddler. The pool accident did not result in any personal injuries to the toddler who was scooped up and saved by a heroic 12 year old boy. As weather heats up in Chicago, Illinois pools became a source of satisfaction but if pool safety guidelines are not followed and if negligent lifeguards are on duty pools can end in tragic dips. To read about the heroic boy who saved a drowning child click here.

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In a recent wrongful death lawsuit, a jury awarded over $4 million to the family of a boy that drowned in a country club pool. The pool management company was found negligent for failing to adequately staff the pool and train lifeguards properly. The couple could appeal because their state caps wrongful death cases at $1.3 million so the pain and suffering of their 5-year-old son was dismissed. Parents are often forced to fight for justice for their children when they are injured, and swimming pool related injuries are one of the most common types.

Click here for the full article

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings , Injuries to Minors and Children , Swimming Pool Accidents and Injuries

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In yesterday's Minneapolis bridge collapse 50 vehicles are said to be trapped, 4 people are confirmed dead, 20-30 people are still missing and 79 people were injured. Officials said that they expected the death toll to rise. Six years ago, the Minnesota Department of Transportation found minor problems with the bridge and a study suggested that if one of two support planes cracked the bridge could collapse. However, this was found to be unlikely and replacement of the bridge unnecessary. Two years ago, however, the US Department of Transportation said that the bridge was structurally deficient and received a rating of 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, meaning that there is "advanced section loss, deterioration."

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to the site of the collapse but a spokesperson remarked that the focus has to be on emergency response. While they will be performing a full forensic analysis to see what caused the collapse, the NTSB emphasized that right now, it is more important to rescue every person possible.

Click here for the full article

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings , Automobile Accidents , Bicycle Accidents , Bus Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Motorcycle Accidents , Pedestrian , Public Transit , Truck Accidents

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a Chicago area Park District for failing to warn of a hazard that the Park District knew about. While on a fishing trip last summer the woman's 4 year old son fell into the Kankakee River. The woman jumped into the water after her son. The boy's uncle and another nearby former Marine sergeant also went after the boy. All three of them died. They were in an area by the South Island Dam, which is one of several low-head dams in Illinois. Once the woman, uncle, and former Marine were trapped in the roiling waters by the dam, they were unable to escape.

Prior to these three drownings last year, the Park District knew of 15 other drowning deaths in the past 25 years. The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the Park District was willful and wanton in its disregard for people's safety by not posting signs about the hazards of the water and by not ensuring that people did not get drawn in to the dangerous currents.

Click here for the full article.

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings

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