A SCHOOLGIRL who collapsed with fright after watching her father in a funfair bungee jump that went wrong, is to get €13,000 in compensation after a hearing at the Circuit Civil Court
Barrister Michael Egan told the court that Chloe McDonagh, of Reask Court, Commons Road, Navan, Co Meath, then aged five, collapsed unconscious after seeing her father being thrown around in a see-through bungee ball.
He said Manchester-based Funpark Nederlands directors had offered her a €13,000 settlement for nervous shock she suffered at the time and for up to a year after the incident.
Mr Egan told the Circuit Court president, Mr Justice Matthew Deery, that Chloe and her mother, Jacqueline McDonagh, had been watching as Mr McDonagh was strapped into the transparent sphere with another person.
As the sphere was catapulted into the air, one of the supporting elasticated straps had broken and it swung wildly in the air.
Chloe became hysterical and had fainted with fear, the court heard.
She saw her father and the other man in the sphere being thrown about as it careered wildly in the air on one elasticated rope and then hang suspended for several minutes until they were released by the emergency services.
Mr McDonagh, his wife and Chloe were all treated in hospital for shock after the incident. Mr Egan said the offer to settle Chloe’s claim for nervous shock had been made by Funfair Nederlands directors Stephen Ross Chadwick, Gary Gore and Jan de-Koning, of Waterloo Street, Crumpsath, Manchester.
He said Chloe had suffered from nightmares for months after the event but was now, at the age of 12, fully recovered.
She had attended the funfair with her parents at Blackrock, Co Dublin, in September 2003 when the incident occurred.
The judge, approving the settlement, said it must have been a terrifying experience for all concerned.