Another woman's life destroyed (?) by tandem-for-hire paragliding in South Africa.
"Thank goodness," you say, "that it wasn't here in the USA. It could make our insurance rates go up!"
Guess what, she is from Seattle.
Poor Brittany
GoFundMe
https://www.gofundme.com/6xhghvy4Shovel it out, America. Do you think South Africa's going to help her???
Look at how long Diane Beswick (below) had to wait for South African "justice."
I can just hear her parents pleading with their insurance agent...
"Sorry, we don't insure dangerous sports."
They're over there now, trapped in a parent's worst nightmare.
I'm glad it wasn't my daughter. I'd be over there with fire in my eyes and hatred in my heart.
And you know what he'd say, when I found him?
All you tandem paraglider lovers -- You know what he'd say?
His last words against a father's wrath?
Sure you know. You all know.
He'd say, "It wasn't me. It was a freak gust of wind. I didn't do it."
Seattle woman fights for life after paragliding accidenthttp://www.kirotv.com/news/news/seattle-woman-fights-life-after-paragliding-accide/npymq/The family of a Seattle woman critically injured in a paragliding accident in South Africa is working to bring her home.
Brittany “Bri” Siguenza has been hospitalized since Monday.
“It's tough,” Bri’s uncle Mike Teano said. “I'm trying to stay strong for my family but it's just been tough for all of us.”
The family is working with the U.S consulate in South Africa to get to the bottom of it.
Right now, they feel like they're in the dark -- half a world away.
The 24-year-old was on vacation with friends.
“It wasn’t even on their schedule,” Teano explained.
Teano said Bri and the pilot slammed into a wall at Promenade Beach in Cape Town on Monday.
As a passenger, Teano said Bri was in the front and took the full brunt of the impact.
She will soon undergo her second brain surgery, which is supposed to last 8 hours.
Uncle Mike Teano feels helpless.
“Especially for me, it's just something we can't control with her being so far away,” he added.
Bri's parents are with her now. They flew to South Africa as soon as they could, securing emergency passports for the trip.
“I can tell they're feeling like they are by themselves,” Teano said. “We just need, we just need her to be closer.”
A crowdfunding campaign is working to bring her home.
So far, it's raised more than $26,000 in two days.
“We look at all the people donating and it's so overwhelming,” Teano said.
While the focus is on Bri's recovery, Teano also questions what happened that day.
According to South African newspaper The Times, four other paragliding companies decided to ground their flights that day because of the wind.
“No words,” he said.
The president of the South African Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association told the paper it was investigating but "weather conditions and proximity to buildings/people/trees do not appear to be relevant.”
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The other horrible accident:
Woman Left Paraplegic After Paragliding Accident Set For Court Battle For JusticeAgony Continues For Woman Who Suffered a Serious Spinal injury During an ‘Illegal’ Tandem Paraglide In South Africa
http://www.irwinmitchell.com/newsandmedia/2015/march/woman-left-paraplegic-after-paragliding-accident-set-for-court-battle-for-justice06.03.2015
The case of a British woman who suffered a horrific spinal injury during a tandem paraglide is set to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa after the aviation authorities in the country appealed a High Court Judge’s decision that they were liable for her injuries.
Diane Bewick, of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, instructed specialist International Personal Injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell after a tandem paraglide went dramatically wrong, sending her crashing into a cliff face and leaving her paralysed from the waist down.
Expert lawyers at the firm have been working to secure the 44-year-old funds for vital care and rehabilitation along with specialist equipment and adapted accommodation.
At a High Court trial in South Africa the judge ruled that The South African Hang gliding and Paragliding Association and The South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were at fault for Diane’s injuries.
Judge Gamble who presided over the case believed that had the association and CAA done all they should with regard to enforcing the rules for using tandem paragliding for commercial gain, Diane Bewick would not have agreed to fly.
Diane believed that this was the end of her ordeal which originally started ten years ago, however it will unfortunately now continue as the defendants have continuously denied liability and launched an appeal against the original court ruling in Diane’s favour.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa is now set to hear the case on 9 March 2015.
Expert Opinion
This has been a horrific time for Diane and her family. The simple fact is that had Diane known that commercial tandem paragliding was illegal in South Africa, she wouldn’t have flown and therefore would not have been injured.
“This incident has totally changed Diane’s life. After victory in the High Court, we were hoping that she and her husband could begin the process of moving forward with their lives but unfortunately their wait for justice continues.
“We will continue to fight for Diane and push for a further favourable court decision. Diane has suffered enough and it is vital that justice is done for her and her family.
“Diane deserves the best possible care and rehabilitation. She will have treatment and care needs for the rest of her life which a favourable judgment should provide for her.”
Demetrius Danas, Partner
Diane, who has had to significantly reduce the hours she works as a Radiographer since the incident, travelled with her partner, and now husband, Mike Bewick on a business trip to Cape Town, South Africa in April 2004. She suffered a serious spinal injury when she agreed to pay for a tandem paraglide.
The professional tandem pilot and Diane were not long in the air when the wing collapsed leaving the paraglider uncontrollable resulting in a collision with a cliff face. Diane was left paralysed and stranded, whilst the pilot was able to scramble to the top of the cliff. Diane then had to wait several hours before being rescued by a helicopter.
Diane spent three weeks in a Cape Town hospital after the accident and then had further treatment and rehabilitation at the James Cook Spinal Unit in Middlesbrough.
Unfortunately for Diane she suffered serious fractures to her spine, right tibia and fibula and left ankle, leaving her paraplegic and needing the use of a wheelchair.
Ahead of the appeal, Diane said about the continuing nightmare: “I was so relieved when the judge ruled in my favour as the accident happened over ten years ago.
“It is heart breaking that the Defendants have decided to appeal but hopefully justice will prevail for my family.
“Being in a wheel chair is a constant reminder of the accident and impacts regularly upon all aspects of my life. For example, it is no longer as easy to visit friends or family or go on holiday as we are limited to rooms which have disabled access. I have also had to reduce my hours at work. Despite this, I have not let my disabilities put my life totally on hold. I have since married the man I travelled with and he has been a rock through my agonising rehabilitation.
“I will continue to fight along with my husband and my legal team at Irwin Mitchell so we can move forward in our lives and I can focus on the care I require.”
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Tourist sues for R20m over paragliding crashNEWS/CRIME-COURTS /
30 November 2012 at 14:14pm
By: Leila Samodien
Cape Town -
A UK tourist whose holiday went awry when she was injured in a paragliding crash, which left her wheelchair bound, is suing for millions.
Diane Berwick, 43, of Tyneside, suffered a string of injuries – including a spine fracture that resulted in paraplegia – when she was on a tandem flight on a paraglider that hit a mountain slope in Hermanus.
The incident occurred on April 12, 2004.
More than eight years later, she has returned to Cape Town for her case to be heard in the Western Cape High Court. The hearing began before Judge Patrick Gamble on Thursday.
Berwick contends in court papers that it was unsafe to fly that day and that the weather conditions posed a risk of injury.
At the receiving end are the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the South African Hang- and Paragliding Association (SAHPA), both of which are fighting the claim.
She wants damages to the tune of £1 450 000 (presently just over R20 million), as well as an additional R1.1m for medical expenses incurred in South Africa and the UK, as well as future medical expenses, general damages – such as pain, suffering, loss of amenities of life and her disability – and her past and future loss of earnings.
For now, however, the parties are arguing the merits of the case and only if it is found that the aviation authority and the association are liable, will the amount later be argued.
Berwick’s legal team has already settled her dispute with the other defendants in the matter: paraglider Robert de Villiers-Roux, paragliding businesses Airteam and Adventure Africa CC, and the office of the minister of transport.
She maintains that the CAA and SAHPA were obliged to reduce the risk of aircraft accidents and that they should have been aware that De Villiers-Roux and the businesses were regularly conducting paragliding flights for commercial gain.
The CAA, SAHPA and their employees and agents had a duty, she argues, to people engaging in paragliding, hang gliding and power gliding activities, such as herself, to “act with due skill, care and diligence as is reasonable… in the circumstances”.
In papers submitted to the court, SAHPA denied Berwick’s allegations against it and said that if the court found it owed a duty of care to Berwick, the association denied it had negligently breached its duties.
It argued that she was warned of the risks associated with paragliding before she went flying, but nevertheless embarked on the tandem flight.
The association also contended that the incident was as a result of the inherent risks in paragliding and that it had occurred, in particular, because of “unexpected air turbulence”.
The CAA similarly denied Berwick’s allegations.
If it was found that the authority had a duty to her, it maintained that the agreement between her, De Villiers-Roux and the businesses were “remotely” connected to the authority’s duties and functions and that there was “no legal or policy consideration” which justified them being held liable for Berwick’s injuries and damages.
Cape Times
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I just heard someone donated $200k to the RRG. I think he should donate $200k to Brittany Siguenza's medical costs.
Is this the end of joyriding in South Africa? I hope so.
All you hang glider pilots who think its such a great thing to be bound to your national associations and their support of joyriding and paragliding, aren't you starting to feel a little bit like serial killers, yet?
Face it, there is something very wrong with tandem-for-hire, on both paragliders and hang gliders.
It should not be sanctioned.
And where it is, recreational hang glider pilots should not be associated with it.
"Oh, we need to train new pilots with tandem flights," you say?
Then show some responsibility. Not this crap:
--
Form a national hang gliding association --
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Oh, boy! 