GATLINBURG, Tenn. — A family is suing Ober Gatlinburg after they said a 9-year-old boy was not properly attached to their 30-foot rock wall's safety system before climbing it. When he fell from the wall, the lawsuit says he received a skull fracture and a brain injury.
According to the lawsuit, the family was visiting Gatlinburg in July 2021 for a baseball tournament. During the trip, they visited Ober Gatlinburg with other team members and parents. While there, the young boy wanted to climb the rock wall.
The lawsuit said it appeared like employees made sure everyone was properly harnessed and attached to the safety line and belaying system, designed to protect climbers who let go or fell from the wall.
According to the lawsuit, the boy was not harnessed before he started climbing. Their website says that climbers are secured "via a built-in belaying system which allows climbers to climb up to the top of the all and then rappel down."
The lawsuit said the boy reached the top of the wall he then began to climb down. When he was around halfway to the bottom of the wall, the lawsuit said he fell and hit the concrete floor at the bottom, without the safety system to stop him.
The lawsuit also said Ober Gatlinburg did not put any protective padding at the base of the rock wall. So, the boy hit his head directly on the concrete and had a skull fracture with a traumatic brain injury.
The boy's mother saw her son fall and heard his head hit the concrete, according to the lawsuit.
"The experience of seeing her son fall and witnessing him strike his head caused her, and continues to cause her, great mental pain and suffering and emotional injury," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit claims Ober Gatlinburg was negligent, which caused the young boy to get injured. They are suing for $750,000 to be paid to the 9-year-old boy to pay for medical expenses, permanent injuries, pain endured by falling from the rock wall and other damages.
They are also suing Ober Gatlinburg to pay the mother $250,000. In total, the family is suing for $1 million.