BY Katie Bice and Melissa Cunningham
A young mum who was left a paraplegic when she was crushed by a large tree branch at Flemington Racecourse has settled a multimillion-dollar claim against the Victoria Racing Club.
The case was settled on the eve of a trial at the Supreme Court after days of legal argument, with the details confidential and the racing club to pay the woman’s costs.
Amanda Parsons was in the members’ car park after a race meeting on a gusty, autumn day in March 2022 when the enormous branch, estimated at 23 metres in length, fell from a 60-year-old red gum.
The 36-year-old woman suffered a spinal cord injury just below the neck, multiple fractures to vertebrae, and a broken pelvis, ribs, leg, foot, and collar bone among internal injuries. Three others were also injured when the branch fell.
Parsons’ original claim had itemised losses and damages totalling more than $20 million.
A statement of claim alleged the tree had been compromised by fungi, visible on the trunk for two years before the accident, bacteria in the limb that broke away and termite activity.
It alleged the Victoria Racing Club was negligent for failing to regularly inspect the tree and maintain it, allowing over-extended limbs to grow, failing to adopt a reasonable tree management policy and failing to brace or support the huge tree limb to ensure the safety of patrons