Indiana Couple Plan to Sue Over Wheelchair Accident

The parents of a 7-year-old southern Indiana girl who was injured when her wheelchair fell from a school bus’ motorized lift plan to sue two school districts for negligence.

A tort claim filed Monday in Clark County indicates Julianna Stone’s parents intend to sue the Clarksville and Greater Clark County school districts over the Aug. 5 accident that it says left their daughter with a broken nose and a dislodged feeding tube.

Officials with both districts have declined to comment.

The claim says the two school systems are negligent because the bus driver was not adequately trained, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reported. The couple is seeking payment of medical bills for Julianna’s pain and anguish in an amount up to $500,000.

The Stones contend in their complaint that the bus driver loading their daughter failed to lock the wheels on the girl’s chair on the lift and didn’t wait for a bus aide to help with the girl’s transition from the lift onto the bus.

When the driver began lowering the lift, the girl’s wheelchair – which remained partially on the lift – flipped forward with the child in it and fell face-first four or five feet to the ground, it states.

A tray on the girl’s wheelchair struck the girl in the abdomen and chest in the fall, according to the claim.

The youngster’s parents rushed to the school after learning of the accident and took her to a Louisville hospital, where she underwent a procedure to reposition the feeding tube in her stomach, the claim states.

The Stones’ complaint said their daughter suffers from Pyridoxine, a vitamin B-6 deficiency that causes neuromuscular disorders. She is unable to walk, speak or ingest food by mouth. Although the girl lives in Clarksville, she attends Spring Hill Elementary School in Jeffersonville.