Shore teen awarded $275k over long jump injury
A 17-year-old Shore student has successfully sued his primary school for more than $275,000 after injuring himself while competing in the long jump at his Year 6 athletics carnival.
In 2019, the teenager participated in the long jump trial competition at Neutral Bay Public School and fell onto his back on his fifth or sixth attempt at age 11.
He told the court he experienced 'immediate back pain' and has suffered from back problems ever since.
The student took the case to the NSW District Court, claiming the school – and, in turn, the state of NSW – was 'vicariously liable in negligence' for failing to ensure there was adequate sand in the landing area and that it was properly raked.
In October 2024, a judge ruled in favour of the state of NSW. However, the teenager successfully appealed the decision, with a fresh judgment handed down on Friday.
The appeals panel ruled that the student be awarded $276,500 in damages plus interest.
In the original judgment, District Court Judge Robert Newlinds SC ruled that while the student had 'suffered ongoing back pain', the teenager had successfully gone on to excel in the school's rowing team, athletics, basketball and soccer.
He was also 'not satisfied' that the school failed to take adequate precautions against the risk of harm, as they were checking and raking the sand level 'every two or three jumps'.
However, the panel ruled the school should have checked and raked the sand level after each student's turn.
The panel also ruled that while the student had gone on to enjoy athletics, he would continue to have lifelong pain, which could affect his future income.
'In his oral evidence below, [the student] was asked what jobs he had in mind after he left school. He said that he had a few ideas, including possibly going into finance or an IT job like his mother,' the panel decision said.
'He then added that he appreciated that those jobs would involve a lot of sitting and not moving and that if he was to work in finance and was sitting down for most of the day, he would 'have a lot of pain and it's going to make the job quite hard.'
The court also heard that teen had worked as a basketball referee in the amount of $16 a game prior to the incident, which he was now unable to do.
'There are undoubted risks in school sports, but they form part of the curriculum in many primary schools and the community rightly recognises that such activities are beneficial for young children when properly supervised,' the panel decision stated.
'I am comfortably satisfied that there was a breach of duty on the part of the School in failing to take reasonable precautions to minimise the risk of injury from long jumping.'
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