Two professional Paralympians Jon and Jason Dunkerley from Canada who were both born blind, are currently facing a personal-injury lawsuit for crashing into another runner on a morning jog along Ottawa's Rideau Canal in 2010.
The athletes are being sued for $350,000 in a statement of claim filed by jogger Mimi Lepage, who has since had to have hip surgery after the crash on the morning of Jan. 24, 2010.
Her statement of claim reports that she will need treatment and therapy for the rest of her life, citing tears of the hip, and injuries to an elbow and shoulder. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The collision happened around 10 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2010 along the Rideau Canal jogging path.
The claim reports that after the collision the Dunkerleys fell on top of Lepage, injuring her so badly she had trouble walking and has been unable to tend to housekeeping, let alone run.
“The collision was caused by the negligence of the defendants, Jon and Jason, who, as elite runners and users of the public recreational path, owed a duty to other users of the path not to create a risk or harm to those users,'' the statement of claim alleges.
This Funny Lawsuit against the blind runners also alleges they were “running at an unsafe speed given the circumstances, including their abilities, their method of communicating with their guides, the terrain of the path, the size of their running group, and the number of other users of the path at the time.''
The lawsuit also alleges that the running group attempted “to pass other users of the recreational path when it was unsafe to do so'' and that the nine-member formation failed to share the popular jogging path.
Lepage's statement of claim alleges that the blind runners “owed a duty of care to other users of the recreational path not to create a hazard or situation of danger that the other users cannot avoid.''
The claim also states that the running group failed to “take other evasive measures to avoid striking Ms. Lepage.''
Lepage also named her son, born in 2002, as a plaintiff in the claim. In that part of the claim she has cited “loss of care, guidance and companionship.''
Reached Thursday, Jon Dunkerley, 31, told the Ottawa Citizen that he feels “horrible'' about what happened to Lepage but said it was an accident. He said he is seeking legal advice with the full intention of vigorously defending himself, as is his brother.
We’re not sure how the court proceedings would work or even what the hell you’d do in the actual event (clones, perhaps?), but it can apparently be done. But first, you need a few things if you’re going to shout in a mirror at yourself and demand money, all before a judge who will grade the magnificent performance.
Picture this: you’re the biggest baseball fan in the world. Possibly the universe. So, you pick out your favorite team, which we’ll say are the White Sox, and decide to permanently ink a reminder somewhere on your body. After hours of choosing a place, you finally arrive to your thigh (or somewhere else silly like that) and head to the nearest parlor.