Navy quadriplegic seeks $110 million
By: Victoria Times-Colonist (Victoria Times-Colonist)
A Victoria man who suffered crippling injuries while on his way to the Gulf War has taken his fight for compensation all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
K.M., a former Canadian sailor, was rendered a quadriplegic in 1992 when he broke his neck in a fall at the United States Navy's Rodman Naval Station in the Panama Canal Zone. He was there as a crew member on the Esquimalt-based HMCS Restigouche, which had stopped to take on fuel and supplies en route to the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War.
K.M. has filed suit for $110 million in compensation from the U.S. Navy through Victoria lawyer Aaron Gordon. Gordon filed a notice of motion in Washington, D.C. requesting that a judge be appointed to hear K.M.'s case.
The U.S. Justice Department has 20 days to respond.
Gordon called K.M's case "one of the most heartbreaking cases I've ever been involved with."
"We have solid evidence of negligence on the part of the U.S. Navy," he said.
K.M., a native of Ottawa, was 25 when his accident occurred. He is unable to live the active lifestyle he once enjoyed and is in almost constant pain.
The accident took place Friday, March 13, 1992, when members of the Restigouche crew were invited to a combined pool reopening and party at the Rodman Naval Station's recreation complex.
While attempting to leave the party via the swimming pool deck, K.M. tripped on a section of the concrete surface that he says was uneven and in need of repair. He fell into the shallow end of the pool.
K.M. was also denied a military pension by Canadian authorities after a military board of inquiry ruled he was not on duty when the accident occurred.
Since the Restigouche had not yet reached the war zone, K.M. was denied a disability pension as well.
K.M., who turned 28 Monday and went out for a celebratory dinner with some of his navy buddies, is living on about $2,000 a month from a military-insurance package held with a civilian company.
"What happened to me was a freak thing," he said Monday from his basement suite in Royal Oak. "I hope that, once this is over, it will help other people in the same situation from going through all of these legal issues like I've had to."
The case is further complicated by the fact that Gordon alleges K.M.'s injuries were made worse by negligent initial treatment.
"Experienced trauma specialists from the Howard Air Force Base [also in the Panama Canal Zone] witnessed the injury, but when they attempted to render first aid they were repulsed by navy medics, who K.M. alleges were intoxicated," Gordon said in a background statement about the case.
He said one witness said medical attendants "were flopping his [K.M.'s] head around and slapping his face to bring him to."
