Woman sues friend’s family after being left paralysed in pool accident

Posted 02/12/2010

A young woman is suing her former friend’s family after being left paralaysed in an accident at their swimming pool.

Kylie Grimes, then 18, was at Katie Hawkins’ home on August 5th 2010 while her father David Hawkins was out.

They decided to go for a swim, but Kylie suffered devastating neck injuries when she dived into the water.

A piece of her backbone was forced into her spinal cord and she is now tetraplegic due to the nerve damage.

Ms Grimes had to learn to breathe again and struggles to live independently, so she is now lodging a personal injury compensation claim against Mr Hawkins.

She alleges that he was negligent for failing to put up signs around the pool stating that the depth made it unsuitable for diving and hopes to claim up to £6 million.

Although the case is unusual in that it involves a private pool, Ms Grimes may have grounds for compensation under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, which states that all visitors must be protected from harm as far as can be reasonably expected.