A woman who claimed she sustained a brain injury when “thrown around like in a tumble dryer” while “zorb balling” at the age of 10 has secured a €1 million High Court settlement.
The activity involves being strapped inside giant inflatable balls.
The woman, who cannot be identified due to a court order, alleged there was a failure in the safety harness so she was thrown around inside the ball while participating in the summer camp activity.
The company which organised the camp, Let’s Go! Summer Schools Ltd, vehemently denied the woman’s version of events and denied she suffered an injury in the manner alleged.
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The High Court heard that a teacher who was present when the girl’s zorb ball was pushed down a ramp and rolled across a basketball court would have given evidence to say nothing unusual happened and everything was normal.
The court was also told that a child strapped into the same zorb ball did not remember anything out of the ordinary happening.
The now-22-year-old woman cannot be identified by order of the court.
The court heard her family had over the years taken her all over Europe to see whether something could be done for her or whether her alleged condition could be linked to the zorb balling. One doctor in Colorado was of the opinion she suffered an alleged brain injury, but experts here were not of that opinion.
Her senior counsel, Bruce Antoniotti, told the court the incident or “whatever occurred” was in July 2013.
Counsel said the case pleaded was that the restraint strap for some reason fell and the child was “thrown around like in a tumble dryer”. He said she was screaming until the zorb ball came to a stop.
The company does not accept there was an incident as pleaded and denied that a safety harness failed or that the girl was thrown around inside the ball. It further denied that the woman’s injuries arose from a lack of restraint or support within the contraption.
Mr Antoniotti told the court that he did not believe they could win the case if it proceeded to trial. He said there were no witnesses to corroborate his client’s account.
Mr Antoniotti said Let’s Go! Summer Schools was still in operation, since 2005, and would say that thousands of children have been using zorb balls without any difficulty. He said the mediator appointed to the case was also satisfied the teachers on the scene would be believed and the case would be dismissed if it went to trial.
Mr Justice Paul Coffey said he had to look at the risks of further litigating the matter.
The judge said there was an “overwhelming litigation risk” in the case and he noted the evidence of two teachers who were on the scene.
Approving the settlement, he wished the woman and her family well.
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