GALVESTON - A mother is suing the owners of their rented vacation home and the subdivision in which it is located after an accident on a family vacation led to serious injuries for her teenage son.
Huda Naseer Mohammad Al-Zghoul filed suit Aug. 10 in the 212th District Court in Galveston, TX, against Bluerock Investments LLC and the Galveston Bay Club Homeowners Association Inc. In the suit, filed on behalf of her son, referred to as “H.A.,” the plaintiff alleges negligence, gross negligence and attractive nuisance on the part of owners of the vacatioin home and the subdivision, according to court discovery documents.
The plaintiff claims that on or about June 22, H.A. suffered severe and debilitating injuries after diving off a fishing pier for a swim, striking a a pile of large rocks not visible from the surface. The suit says the home and subdivision are located along and back up to the open water of Eckert Bayou, a part of Galveston’s West Bay.
The plaintiff alleged that the "information provided by Bluerock in connection with the rental of the home did not provide any information regarding the depth of the water under the fishing pier, nor any warnings or prohibitions against swimming or diving into the water.
"There were no warning signs along the access walkways extending from the home to the boardwalk, along the boardwalk, or along the fishing pier," the documents stated, "there were no signs which said, 'no swimming,' 'no diving,' 'warning: shallow water,' or any other means by which H. A. or his family would know that the water under the fishing pier was too shallow for diving, or that there were large rocks under the water’s surface which were not
visible to persons walking along the fishing pier.”
The suit alleges H.A. suffered several fractures of his spine and clavicle and was hospitalized for more than a week, after which he is still unable to move freely or take care of his personal needs. The plaintiff says he will required to wear multiple braces on his back, neck and spine for the foreseeable future.
For her son, the plaintiff is asking the court for damages for past and future physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, medical expenses and loss of earning capacity, as well as exemplary damages. For herself, the plaintiff asks damages for past and future medical expense and loss of household services, as well as exemplary damages. The plaintiff also asks for court costs, interest and all other just relief.
The plaintiff is being represented by Dennis A. McQueen of Pagel, Davis & Hill, PC in Houston.