The parents of a teenage girl are asking for $776,000 in damages after she was thrown from a University of Arizona-owned golf cart last June.
According to a claim filed late last year, the unnamed girl was part of a BIO 5 internship program when she suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the incident.
The claim said the girl, who wasnβt wearing a seat belt, was the third passenger in the golf cart driven by another unnamed intern. Using the hand railing for support, she was flung from the cart when it made a sharp left turn from East University Boulevard onto North Cherry Avenue.
The filing with the university, a precursor to a lawsuit, states that the young woman required emergency brain surgery in the days that followed and will need hair transplants to partially cover the scars.
The claim says the university was negligent for allowing an intern to operate the golf cart and allowing three students to ride in the cart when there were only two seat belts available.
At the time of the filing, an attorney representing the family estimated that the medical bills could eventually exceed $176,000. It asks for an additional $600,000 in damages.
Both the University of Arizona and Wattel and York β the attorneys representing the family β declined to comment.
