Mount Snow, VT, Sued for $50-Million Following Accident that Left Woman With Life-Changing Spinal Injuries

Mount Snow, VT, is being sued for $50 million by a guest who suffered life-changing injuries after falling from a closed-off chairlift platform.

The lawsuit, which accuses the resort and its owners Vail Resorts of negligence, was filed in federal court in Vermont last week, reports Bennington Banner.

• Related: Mother Files Lawsuit Against New York Resort After Teen Son Dies in Skiing Accident

Faith Keresztessy suffered severe and permanent injuries “including paraplegia and all related complications, together with conscious pain and suffering of body and mind, loss of enjoyment of life, including the loss of having biological children” after falling backward from a lift platform in September 2020. The lawsuit claims that her accident was “a foreseeable hazard that Mount Snow neglected to protect against with reasonable measures” and “Mount Snow’s negligence proximately caused or was a substantial contributing factor.”

“A low-hanging rope was loosely strung across the skier on/off ramp of the Sundance lift with a sign that read: ‘!DANGER! This lift could start at any time KEEP OUT.’ There were no other warnings of any kind on or about the Sundance lift… to the extent that the low-hanging, loosely strung rope could be deemed a protective barrier, which it was not, there were no other protective barriers in place to prevent or restrict paying guests such as Ms. Keresztessy from walking up the skier on/off ramp and onto the Sundance lift.”

– claim from the lawsuit

Keresztessy’s lawyers claim that the resort knew people were accessing the roped-off platform because other guests were posting images on social media taken from the platform.

A GoFundMe was set up at the time and raised $32,771 of a $35,000 goal.

“In Mid-September, Faith had a serious fall. She broke her back at her T12 vertebrae. She had emergency surgery and spent 11 days in the hospital. She’s now at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. She will be confined to a wheelchair throughout her intensive therapy. The funds will be used to purchase the necessities needed for Faith as well as help with her medical expenses. Mom and Dad are not takers. They are not people who ask for or accept help. They are the ones ALWAYS giving. Most recently, Fred and Tracy donated a bike to a charity fundraiser to help raise funds for a wish child fighting cancer. Our turn to do the same… Help Faith have the necessities she will need during this difficult battle. #havefaith”

– GoFundMe statement

 

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