News
Federal Way Will Pay $2.2 Million Over Girls’ Playground Choking
October 21, 2009
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – The Federal Way City Council has agreed to pay $2.2 million to the family of a 14-yearold girl who was choked by playground equipment three years ago.
Tanayia Blanchard, who was 11 at the time, was found unconscious hanging by the neck from a rope tied to a playground ride. She suffered an irreversible brain injury and remains in a vegetative state, court documents state.
The City Council voted 6-0 to approve the settlement Tuesday night without any comment. The settlement must still be approved by a King County Superior Court judge Oct. 23.
The girl’s parents, David and Dawn Blanchard, sued the Federal Way Police Department because its officer who responded to the incident concluded Tanayia Blanchard was dead and did not attempt to resuscitate her or remove her from the rope, according to a guardian ad litem’s report.
Instead, Officer Kendrick Wong, after determining that the girl had no pulse, began taking pictures of her as she was hanging by her neck. He directed first medical responders not to disturb what he thought was a crime scene, guardian ad litem Bruce MacLean said in court documents. Wong, who resigned from the police department in 2008 and moved to Wyoming, could not be reached for comment.
The girl’s lawyers argued that Wong’s actions prevented her from being resuscitated for six to eight minutes until paramedics arrived at the Laurelwood Gardens Apartments, 29436 21st Ave. S. That delay made her brain injury much worse than it might have been, according to a doctor who testified on behalf of the girls’ parents.
In reaching a mediated agreement with the family, the city did not admit any wrongdoing, said city attorney Pat Richardson. The city agreed to settle because of the cost and uncertainty of litigation, Richardson said. The city’s insurance company at the time of the incident will pay the $2.2 million, Richardson said.
The parents will receive part of the settlement, but the largest portion will go the daughter’s special needs trust. The agreement is the second settlement for the family. They sued the King County Housing Authority, which owns the Laurelwood Gardens Apartments where the family lived when the incident occurred June 18, 2006. In that settlement, the Blanchards accused the housing authority and the apartments’ management company, Allied Group Inc., of negligence in monitoring the playground equipment. They were awarded $7 million, which was covered by insurance.
The parents said the playground equipment, called a monorail or “zip line,” had a rope with a loop attached to its handle that was not part of the sliding ride. Witnesses said the rope had been tied to the ride so smaller children could use it. Testimony conflicted as to whether the rope had been present for two days or longer.
The girl’s neck became accidentally entangled in the rope and she was unable to free herself, according to her parents’ lawsuit.
MacLean said defendants in the case alleged the girl’s injury was the result of a suicide attempt, or at least an intentional act of placing her head in the rope loop.
Tanayia Blanchard suffered permanent brain damage, court documents state. She requires 24-hour medical care and lives in a skilled nursing facility. Her doctor estimated she will live about 16 more years, according to MacLean’s report filed Oct. 1.
Acting Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang defended Wong’s actions and said his resignation had nothing to do with the incident.
“The officer’s actions were all reasonable and he followed procedure based on his training,” Hwang said Tuesday. That included treating the site as a crime scene after he determined the girl had no pulse.
“Nobody did anything wrong,” Hwang said. “This was a tragic unfortunate event for the Blanchard family and all those involved.”