The Haggard Law Firm’s Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard, co-counsel Kevin Edwards of Edwards Injury Law secured a $2 Million policy limit settlement for the family of a toddler who nearly drowned and a good samaritan who saved him.
On May 17, 2023, after returning from a day of hard-work, juggling the kids, and life as a single a mother, Emerald Henderson finally found a minute to rest on the couch. Exhausted from the never-ending task that is being a parent to young children, and with her 3-year-old playing on top of her, Emerald’s eyes closed. She simply needed rest after work and before it’s time to begin the bedtime routine for her 4 kids.
While the apartment door was locked, ultimately Emerald’s 12-year-old son left the apartment, not realizing that Noah, 18 months, followed behind. Living near the pool of the Lake Jennie Apartments in Sanford, Florida, Noah was able to gain access to the pool through the complex’s broken pool gate. Losing oxygen to his brain and unable to breath, Noah stopped struggling and inched closer to death. No one from Lake Jennie was watching the pool, and not only were the cameras not monitored, but they were broken. Luckily, a child in the community grabbed an adult resident, and showed him Noah floating face down in the pool.
While pulling Noah from the pool, another resident, Rosemarie, soon followed and helped perform life saving measures until paramedics arrived. If not for these good Samaritan neighbors, Noah would have died. Instead, he survived and is making a remarkable recovery. Doctors believe he will not suffer any long-term consequences of this near drowning.
In response to the near-drowning, and in an effort to firmly encourage the property to correct the pool, Haggard, Finkel, and Edwards, brought suit against Leland Enterprises its failure to properly secure the pool. Arguing the condition of the pool violated necessary codes and suggested industry standards, and contrasting the condition of this pool against Leland’s other pools in more affluent neighborhoods, Leland ultimately tendered its $2 Million policy limits to settle the minor’s family’s claims, as well as a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim by the good Samaritan, Rosemarie.
