Boy awarded €37,500 after injuring arm on school pool door

A schoolboy who injured his arm while racing towards the door of a school swimming pool with friends has settled a claim in the High Court for €37,500.

Lex Hayes Judge was racing towards the pool at Templeogue College in Dublin when the accident happened when his arm hit the pool door, shattering the glass.

The settlement was made without admission of guilt.

Alex, from Shelton Park, Kimmage, Dublin, through his mother Deborah Hayes Judge, sued the Spiritan Education Trust, a patron of Templeogue College, over the accident in the High Court on 13 December 2019.

In an affidavit, Ms Hayes Judge said her son, then 14, was in the schoolyard with friends when they decided to run to the pool door. She said Alex’s left arm hit the pool door and shattered the glass.

Her son, she said, sustained a laceration on his left forearm and at the base of his left thumb. The laceration on his forearm, she said, ran from his elbow to his wrist.

He was taken to the hospital where, under general anesthesia, the cuts were cleaned and repaired.

Ms Hayes Judge said her son left a 28cm scar that stretched from his elbow to his wrist.

Judge Garrett Simons pointed out that liability in the case was highly contested. He said the €37,500 is a very generous settlement and he agrees.