arches
The family of a newlywed who was beheaded by a swinging gate at Arches National Park is suing for $140 million in damages, which their attorney said is the largest federal award ever asked.
Esther Nakajjigo, 25, died in June 2020 as she and her husband of three months drove out of the park, in southern Utah. As they passed a gate near the visitor center, the wind blew it closed across the road; it smashed into the passenger side of the car, decapitating the young woman.
Her husband, Ludovic Michaud, and her parents are arguing that the U.S. Park Service was negligent and did not maintain the gates properly. Opening statements in the case were made Monday in a Salt Lake City courtroom.
Federal attorneys do not dispute that park officials shoulder some blame, but they argue that the amount the family is seeking is excessive.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nelson suggested an appropriate award would be $3.5 million for non-economic damages and $752,000 for economic damages. He said he didn’t deny Nakajjigo was an extraordinary person but argued that any predictions of her future financial success were purely speculative. He noted she had recently worked as a host at a restaurant and didn’t have a college degree.
Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigo’s family, suggested the young woman would have gone on to become a non-profit CEO who could eventually have netted an annual income in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — or millions.
Nakajjigo grew up in Uganda and at 17 was recognized by the United Nations for her work for women — she’d donated her college tuition money to start a nonprofit community health center that provided free reproductive health services to young women. She gained national attention in Uganda for creating a reality TV show that helped child mothers stay in school and develop life skills.
She moved to Boulder, Colorado, to attend the Watson Institute, a program for young entrepreneurs and innovators. In Colorado, she met Michaud, who had moved there from France. The pair married in March 2020; the trip to Utah was their COVID-delayed honeymoon.
During opening statements, McGinn requested the family leave the courtroom before she described the gruesome details of the death. Michaud, she said, was so covered in his wife’s blood that first responders thought he was the one who had been injured. To this day, the attorney said, the smell of copper makes him uneasy because it reminds him of blood.
Nakajjigo, who grew up sleeping on dirt floors, didn’t share her new husband’s love of hiking and camping but she was excited about the first trip of their married life, McGinn said. Photos from her last day showed her wearing a T-shirt she had bought to tease Michaud about taking her hiking. It read, “Everything hurts and I’m dying.”
The gate is just before the visitors center as drivers leave the park, near Moab, Utah.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Originally published at Bay Area News Group