California Injury Blog
The city of San Dimas has settled a lawsuit brought by a former teen beauty queen in connection with a 2005 auto accident that left her with severe brain injuries. According to an article in the Whittier Daily News, the city and Samantha Palumbo’s attorneys agreed to a $9 million settlement Thursday. Palumbo filed a personal injury lawsuit against the city more than a year ago alleging that a wooden equestrian fence Palumbo crashed into was a dangerous condition, which led to her traumatic brain injury.
According to the newspaper article, the accident occurred in March 2005 when Palumbo, then only 16 years old, careened off the road and clipped the fence causing the wooden poles to separate and crash into the vehicle. Palumbo was struck by one of the heavy wooden poles on the head. At the time of the accident she was Miss California Junior National Teenager. According to news reports, she underwent skull surgery, suffered brain damage and a broken jawbone. She is still undergoing treatment and had a surgery last week “to fill a hole in her head” left by the log that hit her during the accident.
Palumbo’s attorney alleged that the city tried to pull out all the stops to avoid paying his client, who needs full-time care and is still unable to walk or talk. He says they waited until all their legal options ran out to do the right thing. What’s worse, another 20-year-old man died last year in another crash when he rammed into the same spot on the wooden fence Palumbo had crashed into
Here are some more resources that have a lot of information about traumatic brain injuries:
Brain Injury Society
Head Injury Hotline
The Perspectives Network
Have questions about a brain injury accident, auto accident, dangerous condition on public property or an auto accident, give us a call. Maybe we can help.