The little girl's mother says a fall on Busch Gardens' Stanley Falls flume ride six years ago left her child with a limp and in possible need of a hip replacement, according to her lawsuit.
The amusement park blames something else: the girl's weight.
Busch Gardens says the Seminole girl's weight problem is the main cause of her health troubles. Nadya Hamad, now 12, weighed 108 pounds at age 6, when the accident occurred. Most dietitians suggest the average weight of a healthy 6-year-old is about 50 pounds.
"Nadya's pediatric records are replete with notations of concern by her health care providers about Nadya's obesity, prompting them to give her mother advice on several occasions concerning diet and exercise," an attorney for Busch Gardens wrote.
After two years of litigation and mediation, Busch Gardens decided to settle for $165,000. But Nadya's mother has reconsidered accepting it, because a guardian ad litem appointed to protect the girl's interests says her future medical bills could exceed that amount.
Today, the family will ask a federal magistrate judge to reject Busch Gardens' offer.
Cynthia Matthews-Hamad filed a personal injury lawsuit in 2004. It said the incident occurred on June 3, 2000, while Nadya was getting off the Stanley Falls ride. Nadya and her aunt were standing when another log bumped their log car. Nadya lost her balance and hit her right knee on the padded inside of the ride, the lawsuit said.
Busch Gardens maintains it did nothing wrong. The log crafts routinely bump, the park said in court records, but the collisions are minimal. Moreover, Nadya's family didn't report the accident to park officials for more than a year, Busch Gardens said.
It was five days before Nadya saw a doctor, who diagnosed her with a probable right knee sprain.
Meanwhile, Nadya fell again within days of the Busch Gardens incident. This time, doctors diagnosed her with a hip problem that causes the thigh bone to slip from the top of the hip socket.
Medical experts for both sides say that a contributing factor to this occurring in young children is obesity. Nadya had pins placed in her right hip.
In July 2002, she received the same diagnosis in her left hip.
Attorney Joseph D. McFarland, the guardian ad litem, wrote that the girl now walks with a pronounced limp and may need a right hip replacement.
The federal lawsuit listed Nadya's mother as a care coordinator for the Salvation Army. Court records show that she filed for bankruptcy in 2002. She filed a motion to reopen the case in 2005 for a student loan debt owed to Sallie Mae Servicing.
Research: Carolyn Edds
