When your child experiences an injury at school or camp

You expect your child to stay safe when spending time away from home. Unfortunately, sometimes serious injuries occur at school, camp, public pools and other family-oriented locations.

Review the factors that determine responsibility for medical expenses when a child gets hurt at a public place in South Carolina.

Standard of negligence

In this type of incident, you must prove negligence on behalf of the responsible parties. Negligence means that a person or entity failed to meet an expected standard of care. For example, if your child suffered a head injury after slipping on wet cement at the camp pool, you may have a lawsuit if the camp failed to maintain the area properly or did not supervise the campers as expected.

Available damages

In a successful personal injury lawsuit, South Carolina allows you to seek both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are the quantifiable medical costs resulting from your child’s injury, such as medical expenses and transportation to and from doctor’s appointments. Non-economic damages include losses without a number attached, such as loss of life enjoyment, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.

The state also allows punitive damages if the defendant displayed willful, reckless or purposeful negligence. South Carolina limits this type of compensation to the greater of $500,000 or three times the amount of damages in the case.

If your child suffers a catastrophic injury in South Carolina, your family has three years from the injury date to file a lawsuit. After the statute of limitations elapses, he or she will no longer be eligible for legal compensation.