Woman, 21, sues Delta school board for injuries on monkey bars at age 5

A woman who was injured after falling off the monkey bars at her elementary school when she was five years old is suing the Delta Board of Education for negligence and is asking the courts to award her for past and future loss of ability to earn a living, plus damages.

Brianne Jean Rennie, now a 21-year-old student, fell headfirst to the concrete below at Hawthorne Elementary School in Delta on June 20, 2007, according to a recently filed writ in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

She lost her grip and fell, “landing on her face and neck beneath the monkey bars, thereby causing injuries, loss and damage to her,” said the writ.

The ground was “concrete topped with a thin layer of gravel,” unevenly distributed and exposing the concrete in areas, “creating a hazard to anyone who fell,” it said. “There was no signage … to warn users about risks of playing … or restrictions on age limits.”

The writ also said she suffered a concussion, cuts to her nose, chin and upper gum, dental injuries, soft-tissue injuries to neck, shoulders and back, headaches, shock and anxiety, memory and attention difficulties and sleep disturbance.