Settlement Reached After Inflatable Slide Death
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Cleveland Indians settled a lawsuit with the family of a Greensburg man.
He died after an inflatable slide outside the Indians ballpark fell on top of him.
For Doug Johnson, it was supposed to be a fun trip to Progressive Field in Cleveland to take in a ball game.
But he never made it inside the ballpark and eight days later he died.
"A husband that she said was an awesome father," Attorney Alan Perer said. "Perfect health, prime of his life, 54 years old, and winds up dead."
A security camera recorded the tragic accident. Johnson walked by the huge slide, it toppled over, breaking his back and causing a blood clot that eventually killed him.
"This slide was set up in front of the ballpark -- no anchoring at all, blown up, three stories high, 400 pounds, maybe 12 kids climbing up on the slide at the time," Perer said. "It was an accident that was waiting to happen."
An investigation by the Ohio Department of Agriculture determined the slide wasn't set up properly.
So the Johnson family sued the Indians, the manufacturer of the slide and Kanetix Insurance Company, which was operating the slide.
They settled just before the trial began. The amount is unknown, but the family's attorney characterized it this way:
"Satisfactory," Perer said. "It was satisfactory to all -- mutually satisfactory to all parties."
But no amount of money can repair the damage done.
"You can't imagine the grief and the stress and the loss that this caused," Perer said.
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