Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Girl Hurt at Disneyland Settles Suit With Park
A 17-year-old girl who broke both legs and an arm when her wheelchair toppled on an attraction at Disneyland has reached a $35,000 settlement with the amusement park.
Disneyland agreed to settle the personal injury lawsuit as the jury was deliberating Christina Schaal’s case Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Samuel B. Taylor in Santa Ana.
Schaal, of Sunland, accused the park of negligence after her wheelchair tipped over on a rolling ramp at the Haunted Mansion ride on March 31, 1985.
Disneyland attorneys said her father, Charles, was at fault for not keeping close to her wheelchair.
Schaal’s father was momentarily diverted, helping a young boy adjust the seat belt of his wheelchair, when his daughter’s chair rolled away, said James G. O’Callahan, Schaal’s attorney.
It was Christina Schaal’s decision to accept the settlement instead of waiting for the jury to return, O’Callahan said.
“It was safer,” O’Callahan said. “And I didn’t feel like gambling with her money.”
Schaal has been confined to a wheelchair since infancy because of brittle bones.
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