$2.9m award in snowboard accident
Ski resort and school district found liable for injuries of student
John Bermingham
The Province
Sunday, July 13, 2003
CREDIT: Jon Murray, The Province
Travis Murao leaves B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver yesterday.
'The key to Travis's accident is [that] at the time of the accident, he was allowed to do everything he did' -- Joe Murphy, Murao's lawyer
A B.C. Supreme Court jury awarded Richmond university student Travis Murao $2.9 million in damages yesterday in a personal-injury lawsuit.
Murao, now a quadriplegic, had sued his teachers, his school district and the Blackcomb Mountain ski resort for injuries he suffered on a snowboard jump during a high-school outing in January 2000.
The jury found Blackcomb 70 per cent responsible for the accident, Richmond School District 15 per cent liable and Murao himself 15 per cent to blame.
What the jury didn't know was that 10 days before the trial, Murao settled with Blackcomb for an undisclosed sum.
That makes it unclear how much the 20-year-old university student will actually get. His lawyer wouldn't disclose terms of the Blackcomb settlement.
Equally unclear is the depth of the chill the finding of responsibility against the school district will have on future school outings in B.C. The case was being closely watched by many districts.
Murao was 17 and a novice snowboarder when he attempted the 4.5-metre jump that his teachers had approved.
Instead of clearing it, he fell awkwardly on his head, broke his neck and severely damaged his spinal cord -- leaving him confined to a wheelchair for life.
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