A student from the University of Oregon was left permanently paralyzed after being crushed by a falling tree on campus.
The news comes after the student filed a bombshell lawsuit worth $16 million. Olivia Rose Edwards claims she was walking a tree-lined path on the college campus on February 24 when a giant 50-foot-tall white pine tree fell on her, fracturing her spine and leaving her lower body paralyzed.
Edwards is now seeking a mega $16.3 million from the university to cover all of her medical expenses and compensate for the pain and suffering as per her lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
In the filing, she said the tree fell on her, and it was said to be fatally weakened by disease or some other cause. She also alleged that the university failed in terms of providing reasonable and routine maintenance and inspection that would have stopped this from happening in the first place.
The junior from college mentioned how she was forced to walk past the tree because of fencing that was set up to move students away from the construction work at Friendly Hall on Campus.
Her filing added how an atmospheric river had hit Oregon in the days before the accident occurred. But she also mentioned how the university had only warned students of the potential dangers that it posed on school grounds after she was hit.
The university has responded to her claims, adding that the campus has more than 4000 trees. But it employs a team that keeps on inspecting them on a routine basis.
They also work to remove them if deemed necessary.