Man sues travel agency after ceiling fan's blade in Tenerife aparthotel strikes son, two
The court heard his son Mason, who was going on three at the time, was crying in the room and Mr Heeney, who is six feet three inches in height, picked the boy up to comfort him when the metal blade of the fan, which was around six feet 9.5 inches from the floor, struck the boy behind his ear. File photo: MileA
A travel agency has denied a ceiling fan in a Spanish aparthotel room was set at a hazardously low level because it struck a man’s two-year-old son as he picked him up to comfort him, the High Court heard.
Kevin Heeney, Corofin House, Clare Village, Malahide Road, Dublin, last April lost an action in the Circuit Court against Sunway Travel Ltd, t/a as Sunway Holidays, over the accident in the aparthotel which he claimed disrupted the family holiday to Tenerife in August 2015.
The Circuit Court found it was an accident for which no one could be held responsible.
Mr Heeney appealed to the High Court. Following a hearing on Tuesday, Mr Justice Cian Ferriter reserved his decision.
The court heard his son Mason, who was going on three at the time, was crying in the room and Mr Heeney, who is six feet three inches in height, picked the boy up to comfort him when the metal blade of the fan, which was around six feet 9.5 inches from the floor, struck the boy behind his ear.
Mr Heeney, who previously hit his hand off the fan as he was taking his tee-shirt off, twice brought the matter of what he said was a hazard of the low level fan to the attention of management and sought to be moved but he was told nothing was available, counsel said.
Mr Heeney sued for the €3,596 costs of the holiday and on behalf of his son for the injury he suffered. He claimed the entire holiday was disrupted due to having to keep a close eye on the boy for the rest of the holiday and having to bring him back to hospital to have stitches behind his ear taken out.
Cormac MacNamara SC, for Mr Heeney, said his client, his wife and two sons, travelled to the Puerto Rico, Canary Islands, resort on August 8, 2015. On August 11, having brought concern about the fan to the attention of the aparthotel management on two previous days, he was preparing to go down to the swimming pool when Mason became slightly agitated.
He picked the boy up to console him when the blade hit his head causing immediate bleeding. The family rushed to the aparthotel reception and asked that an ambulance be called. He was told it would be quicker taking him to hospital by taxi.
They took a taxi to a local doctor who bandaged the boy's head and arranged for an ambulance to take him to hospital where he received three sutures to the back of his ear.
When they returned to the aparthotel, Mr Heeney spoke to the manager who expressed surprise that he had not been moved as there was alternative accommodation available, counsel said. They were moved the next day to air-conditioned accommodation.
Mr Heeney told the court he had remarked to his wife on their first hour at their accommodation that the fan was a bit low.
Under cross-examination by Elaine Morgan SC, for Sunway, Mr Heeney disagreed it was unforeseeable that someone would pick up the child the way he did particularly when he (Mr Heeney) was conscious of the fan, having made complaints about it.
"There was only one cause of this accident and it was you," counsel said. Mr Heeney replied that they had asked to be moved.
Conor Murphy, an engineer called by the Heeney side, said he had found no Irish or Spanish standards for fan heights while US standards say they should be at least 10 feet. Some manufacturers say they can be put as low as seven feet, he said.
He believed it was definitely a hazard because, unlike a door opening which is even lower, this was a moving object and hitting it could lead to serious consequences.
Mr Justice Ferriter said he hoped to give his decision as soon as possible.
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