Patricia Portillo Estrada and her 12-year-old son Esdras Cruz.Photo:9NEWS/Youtube
9NEWS/Youtube
A Colorado mother is suing her son’s school district after he broke both his legs on school property and his injuries allegedly went untreated all day.
Esdras' wheelchair “rolled down the ramp, picking up speed, before colliding with an opposing concrete wall," according to the complaint. His “knees absorbed the impact."
Two days after the fall, Estrada took her son to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with “bilateral proximal tibial and fibular fractures,” per the complaint. “Treating the injuries required splinting and immobilizing” his legs, and he was “confined to a hospital bed for one week.” He spent the next month “bedridden due to his injuries.”
In June 2022, Estrada met with Rocky Mountain Elementary’s principal, Kate Vogel, who reviewed security camera footage of the incident and saw the 12-year-old lose control of his wheelchair.
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The lawsuit alleges that through Rocky Mountain Elementary, Adams 12 Five Star Schools District manifested “deliberate indifference to [Esdras’] health, wellbeing, and federally protected rights.”
It also noted that Esdras’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) “explicitly” states that he “requires supervision and assistance navigating ramps” as well as “safety monitoring from staff throughout the day due to medical, mobility, and functional issues.”
“One of the requirements of his special education plan was that he had to be constantly monitored in order to assist him with his movements. He was not supposed to be left alone and left to his own devices,” the family’s attorney Igor Raykin told CBS.
As a result of the school district’s “deliberate indifference” to Esdras’ “safety,” he “suffered a severe injury, incurring significant treatment and rehabilitation,” as well as “severe emotional distress, such as humiliation, frustration, anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, isolation, and other forms of mental and emotional anguish," the lawsuit alleges.
PEOPLE has reached out to Adams 12 Five Star Schools for comment.
A spokesperson for the district told CBS in a statement Monday, “At this time, the district has yet to be served with a complaint regarding this matter. If we are served with a complaint, the district’s practice is not to share information on pending or ongoing litigation.”
source: people.com
