Latest news with #OccupiersLiabilityAct
ITV News
a day ago
- Health
- ITV News
Woman one of three suing health club after chlorine leak at swimming pool in Derbyshire
A 71-year-old woman is one of three people suing a health club for injuries after being exposed to excess levels of chlorine while swimming. Enid Hollingworth has not stepped into a pool since January, when a chemical leak at Clifford Health Club and Spa in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, left her struggling to breathe. 27 people were exposed to high levels of chlorine in the spa area of the building. Ms Hollingworth was one of four people who ended up in hospital. She said: "I was doing breaststroke and I was swimming underwater. So when I came up to take a breath, I just felt this toxic gas hit me on the side of my face and straight away, I couldn't breathe. "My lungs were burning, so I was coughing and choking. I managed to, I don't know how... I was begging and pleading for somebody to help me to make it to the bottom of the steps to get out of the pool." Ms Hollingworth still struggles to breathe and has been left with problems to her left eye. She said: "It took four months for the cough to go away completely and now I've been left with problems with my left eyelid, it's drooping. "When I wake up in the morning, it's barely open when my eye is tired. So now, I've got to have some surgery. "I've been referred to the ocular surgeons to have the eyelid lifted - all because I thought I was doing something to keep me healthy." Ms Hollingworth said she used to enjoy swimming: "I do have back problems. I've got scoliosis and osteoarthritis and that really eased some of the back pain for me, so it was really important. "I used to do it once a week, but I did 50 lengths of the pool, swimming really quite fast for my age and I enjoyed it. It was exercise that I felt was doing me a lot of good." Since the incident, Ms Hollingworth does not feel safe enough to enter a pool: "It's left me with far more back ache because I'm not able to loosen up my back by swimming. "It's left me feeling quite anxious about it, I would like to get back to the pool but I just don't feel that I can." Ahmed Jamad, from Express Solicitors, who represents the three chlorine leak victims, said: "We're taking legal action for personal injury. "The law around that is that they breached common law, duty of care and also a statutory duty of care under section two of the Occupiers Liability Act. "It basically imposes a duty on landowners and owners of the premises to ensure that any visitors on their lands or on their premises are kept reasonably safe, in the environment and not exposed to any sort of danger or hazards." Clifford Health Club and Spa said last month human error was to blame for the leak - and internal investigations are ongoing. Erewash Borough Council is continuing its own investigation.
Vancouver Sun
15-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Injured delivering food, driver sues Vernon homeowners for neglecting driveway
A driver who tripped on a crack in the driveway of the home where he was delivering food has sued the homeowners, alleging they were negligent in maintaining the property. Williams Woods is suing Shawn Whiting and Shawna Neufeld, owners of a Vernon property where Woods said he fell and injured a shoulder and knee to the point that he can't work. He has difficulty walking and sleeping, and experiences anxiety and depression, according to a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. Included as defendants are ABC Co. and John Doe to account for any other as-yet-unknown parties, such as anyone else responsible for the maintenance of the property. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'On or about May 14, 2023, the plaintiff was outside on the driveway of the premises to deliver food when he tripped and fell due to hazardous cracks in the driveway, causing injury,' said the lawsuit. The owners owed him a 'duty of care to take reasonable care for the reasonable safety of those that used the premises,' as provided by B.C.'s Occupiers Liability Act, it said. 'The condition of the driveway was caused by the negligence of the defendants,' it alleged. The injuries are causing a loss of earnings and mean he cannot do household chores, the lawsuit says. He also is seeking damages that aren't related to monetary loss, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and damages to cover cost of prescriptions, medical practitioners, such as physiotherapists, and housekeeping costs. Under B.C. law, an individual hurt on a person's property can sue if the owners don't maintain a safe pathway, which includes in the winter removing snow within a certain time limit after a storm. None of the allegations have been proven in court. A message left with homeowners wasn't returned and Woods didn't return a message left with his lawyer.
