
The death of a loved one will be extremely painful and saddening; let alone the case of wrongful death cases. After all, who can tolerate the death of a family member that is caused solely by the reckless actions or negligence of someone else? Even though you will be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit and hold the person responsible for your irreparable loss, it will change nothing. However, you can obtain fair compensation from the liable party to ease your financial burden associated with the death of your close one.
Wrongful death cases occur as a result of numerous factors such as accidents, drowning, medical malpractice, etc. Out of these, one of the most prominent and common issues is drowning. On a related note, approximately 3500 death cases are reported in the United States of America annually because of drowning. Unfortunately, the victims are mostly children and elderly people. Similarly, when compared to females, males are at higher risk of drowning. In fact, around 80% of the overall drowning-related death cases involve males. Apart from death, drowning can lead to many other fatal heath conditions as well such as;
- Seizures
- Learning disabilities
- Memory issues
- A permanent vegetative state
- Paralysis
- Loss of basic functioning
Needless to mention, drowning accidents are likely to occur because of the negligence of the property owner. According to the personal injury law, the immediate family members of the victim, who died out of drowning, can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the property owner in such cases. After all, the authoritative people owe a duty of care towards the visitors and are entitled to maintain the pool premises in proper condition. Plus, they must notify the visitors about the dangerous conditions, if any.
To recover damages in case drowning-related wrongful death cases, the family members of the deceased will have to prove the following points in court.
- The defendant owed the duty of care towards the victim
- The defendant was negligent towards his/her duty of care
- This negligence was the main factor that leads to the drowning incident and eventually the death of the victim
Sometimes, lifeguards, babysitters, supervisors, etc., are also held liable for drowning accidents if their negligence or inability to take the right action on time led to the wrongful death of a child or a person. In such cases, the employer will also be held liable for the accident. This usually happens in case of public pools and water theme parks. Similarly, the actions of some patrons may also make a person drown. For instance, consider situations like fighting, boat riding accidents, etc.