Chief Ranger Scott Brown said a 65-year-old man and 60-year-old woman died after falling into the bowl area near Delicate Arch. Legal Statement. He is seeking a little more than $240 million in damages, while Nakajjigos parents are seeking $30 million. She and Michaud were married in March, and the two traveled to Arches to celebrate the one-year anniversary of when they first met on a dating app. By Thomas Peipert, Associated Press The family of a womens rights activist from Uganda has filed a more than $270 million wrongful death and personal injury claim against the National Park Service after she was decapitated by an unsecured gate at Utahs Arches National Park. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. "She really loved the Denver vibe and so do I. It's likely the first step in a lengthy federal lawsuit. Deborah Chang, the Los Angeles-based attorney representing Michaud, claimed there was nothing he could do to swerve out of the way of the gate that killed his wife and missed him by a hair. "She was very strong personality, really funny, really smart," said Ludovic Michaud, Essie Nakajjigo's husband. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Michaud, who lived with his Ugandan wife in Denver, Colorado, wasn't injured in the accident, but he told the news station he was completely covered in his wife's blood. She received numerous other humanitarian awards and created a popular reality television series aimed at empowering young mothers. Michauds attorneys also said the federal government was aware of the dangers, citing a 1980 accident in which a man was impaled by an unsecured gate as he rode in the back of a pickup in Californias Stanislaus National Forest. The claim says the gate was left open and unrestrained, causing major damage to the hood and the front passenger fender, door and window. Then the car carrying him and his wife stopped. Nakajjigo was born in Kampala, Uganda, and used her university tuition money to start a nonprofit community health care center when she was 17, providing free reproductive health services to girls and young women, according to a biography included in the claim. FOX 13 Investigates: Grisly decapitation of ambassador at Arches NEW YORK POLICE SERGEANT FATALLY STRUCK IN WRONG-WAY CRASH. He told NBC that the harrowing accident has left him traumatized, and he continues to suffer from PTSD months after. Arches National Park, notes CBS News, had just re-opened recreation following a decrease in coronavirus cases. "Despite this fact, the NPS has done nothing to ensure the safety of its visitors and guests.". 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. In 2018, she participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship program at Drexel University, and she was also the recipient of the 2018 Luff Peace Fellowship at Watson Institute. She was named the country's ambassador for women and girls soon after, and passionately advocated to reduce teen pregnancy and increase educational opportunities for Ugandan women. Passionate about international politics and world affairs, hes an avid traveler with a keen interest in the connections between South Asia and the United States. Winter conditions make for slippery hiking; proceed with caution," the tweet said. Webcams Michaud is seeking $240 million in damages and Nakajjigo's parents are seeking $30 million. "The most important thing for me is to try continuing what she's done," Michaud said to The Associated Press. She married Michaud in March, just as COVID-19 was starting to make U.S. headlines. According to CBS News, Esther Essie Nakajjigo was killed after a metal gate at Arches sliced through the passenger side of the vehicle driven by her newlywed husband. Michaud's filing clears the path for a full lawsuit, which is expected to be served within the coming months. Esther Nakajjigo a human-rights advocate from Uganda who was studying at a leadership institute in Colorado was killed instantly in the June 13 incident. The three people involved were related, Brown said. The lawsuit, adds CBS, observed that the activists death could have been prevented if Arches National Park had simply purchased an $8 padlock for the unsecured gate. That same year, she was awarded the Woman Achiever Award from the United Nations Population Fund. Last month, Nakajjigos husband, Ludovic Michaud, and her parents filed a $270 million wrongful-death claim a precursor to a formal lawsuit alleging that the gate should have been secured to prevent it from swinging into the road. A 30-year-old man who also fell was hospitalized; his current condition is unknown. Arches National A YOUNG activist hailed as a "future Princess Diana or Oprah" for her work was decapitated in a gruesome accident while she and her husband were hiking in Arches National Park. The National Park Service and Arches National Park are accused of not securing the gate, which was installed to swing in the wrong direction and was being held open by a flimsy metal tab that was worn down and rounded, according to the claim. RELATED: Denver Woman Decapitated By Gate: Family Files $270M Wrongful Death Claim Against Arches National Park. We are unapologetic in our dedication to informing the public and unafraid to call out those who are more focused on profits than peoples safety. "She's got quite a few projects started, and we need to make sure those projects survive after A lot of people just want to continue that because that's what she would have wanted from us.". Ludovic Michaud says that his wife, 25-year-old Esther Nakajjigo, was decapitated when a metal gate swung into their 2020 Chevy Malibu as they were leaving the park on June 13, 2020, according to the claim. ", First published on November 13, 2020 / 7:49 AM. Nakajjigo grew up in Uganda and at 17 was recognized by the United Nations for her work for women shed donated her college tuition money to start a nonprofit community health center that provided free reproductive health services to young women. The trial over a wrong death lawsuit of a Ugandan activist has begun. Nakajjigo, who grew up in Uganda, had been recognized since she was a teenager for her work promoting health services and education for young women and girls. In Colorado, she met Michaud, who had moved there from France. According to the claim, 25-year-old Esther Nakajjigo was decapitated while sitting in the passenger seat of a car that was exiting Arches National Park. Market data provided by Factset. All rights reserved. WebThe photo in this video of the arch is Corona Arch and I dont its in Archs national park. In the courts ruling, Judge Jenkins awarded $9.5 million to Nakajjigos husband, $700,000 to her mother, and $350,000 to her father. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. She previously worked as a crime reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania and the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. Image via Wikimedia Commons via Flickr/user: Brian Turner. She'd come to Colorado to learn how to bolster her business acumen at the Watson Institute in Boulder. For want of an $8.00 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good; a young woman influencer who was destined to become our societys future Princess Diana, Philanthropist Melinda Gates or Oprah Winfrey, according to the claim, which is a precursor to a formal lawsuit. Employees knew or should have known that winds strong enough to carve stone are certainly strong enough to blow an unrestrained metal pipe gate into the path of an oncoming vehicle, Chang wrote in the claim. McGinn said if her life hadn't been cut short that Nakajjigo's trajectory suggested she 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. She received numerous other humanitarian awards and created a popular reality television series aimed at empowering young mothers. The gate is just before the visitors center as drivers leave the park, near Moab, Utah. Nakajjigo gained national attention in Uganda and created a reality TV show that helped child mothers stay in school and develop life skills, according to the claim. Arches National Park: 2 people die after falling while hiking - USA CBS News reports that the case attracted significant attention, considering the gruesome circumstances and Nakajjigos status as a relatively well-known human rights activist. While growing up in Uganda, Nakajjigo used her college tuition funds to open up a nonprofit community education center in her home country. WebHuman rights activist Esther Nakajjigo, 25, died on June 13, 2020, when a traffic control gate blew into her rental car at Arches National Park in the US state of Utah. Trial begins for woman decapitated at Arches National Park Esther Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. "The woman I loved and I saw her for just her.". You may experience delays during the busy season between March and October and on holiday weekends. Instead, the familys civil lawsuit largely focused on the amount of damages merited. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. In Pittsburgh, she helped the newspaper earn the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news after a mass shooting at a local synagogue. Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic Michaud, were on vacation in eastern Utah, visiting national parks across the region several months after their wedding. The gate narrowly missed Michaud, who was driving. Denver woman Esther "Essie" Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic "Ludo" Michaud, were visiting Arches National Park in mid-June when a freak accident left Nakajjigo dead. The National Park Service did not respond to an email seeking comment, and the media relations voicemail inbox was full and could not accept messages. The couple had traveled to Arches in celebration of their one-year anniversary of meeting. 7 CHILDREN INJURED IN NEW YORK BUS CRASH THAT DAMAGED HOME, The family's lawsuit claims when the national parks reopened in April 2020 after being shuttered due to COVID-19, rangers at the national park in Utah didn't secure the gate in place, which in effect "turned a metal pipe into a spear that went straight through the side of a car, decapitating and killing Esther Nakajjigo.". The family of a womens rights activist from Uganda has filed a more than $270 million wrongful death and personal injury claim against the National Park Service after she was decapitated by an unsecured gate at Utahs Arches National Park. WebUSA TODAY 0:00 0:49 Two people died Friday while hiking in Arches National Park in Utah. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. "The end of the gate impaled the car like a lance, and literally beheaded his newly-wed bride right in front of him.". After requesting that the family leave the courtroom, she recounted the moment Michaud realized his wife had been killed, when he inhaled the copper-tinged smell of blood, turned to figure out what it was and saw she was dead. "The National Park Service has, in face, known for decades that an unsecured metal pipe gate creates an undetectable hazard and dangerous conditions," says the claim. However, in his 10-page decision, Jenkins observed that the case was somewhat unusual, insofar as neither the victim nor the plaintiffs were U.S. citizens. Park staff told investigators the gate was usually left unsecured, and that typically the gates own weight kept it in place, so it was not locked in place by any other means. Nakajjigo, originally from Kampala, Uganda, used her university tuition money to start a nonprofit organization that provided free reproductive health care to girls and young women when she was just 17. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Esther Nakajjigo, a 25-year-old Ugandan human rights activist, was killed in a horrific accident at Arches National Park on June 13, 2020. (CCA-BY-2.0). Nakajjigo was offered a full scholarship to the Watson Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and started a social entrepreneurship program in early 2019. Denver man files suit after wife's death at National Park - KMGH She also created a popular reality television series that helped child mothers stay in school and develop life skills, according to The Denver Post. Nakajjigo was involved in countless philanthropic endeavors. At 17, She was named an Ambassador for Uganda's Women girls by nonprofit organization IREX. Upon leaving, an unsecured metal gate swung into the road, killing Nakajjigo who was sitting in the passenger seat. 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The show saw an audience of 6.3 million each week, and Nakajjigo was named Ugandas Young Personality of the Year.. Nakajjigo worked on fundraising to open a hospital in an underserved part of Kampala, Uganda's capital, became a philanthropic celebrity and immigrated to the United States for a fellowship at the Boulder, Colorado-based Watson Institute for emerging leaders. She and Michaud were married in March. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. She was also named Uganda's Ambassador for Women and Girls at the ceremony; just a few of her numerous humanitarian awards. Both of Nakijjijo's parents, who listed their addresses as Kamapala, Uganda, have also filed wrongful death claims. future Oprah or Princess Diana NBC reported that he was flown to Moab Regional Hospital. The gate barely missed Michaud. Widower Struggles With Loss After Wife Decapitated By Gate In DENVER (CBS4) - The family of a woman killed while visiting Arches National Park is hoping they can change the dangerous conditions that lead to her death and continue the philanthropy she inspired around the globe. Nakajjigo was born in Kampala, Uganda, and used her university tuition money to start a nonprofit community health care center when she was 17, providing free reproductive health services to girls and young women, according to a biography included in the claim. RELATED: Denver Woman Decapitated By Gate: Family Files $270M Wrongful Death Claim Against Arches National Park "She really loved the Denver vibe and so do I. The pair married in March of this year. While the Nakajjigo family had initially sought more in compensatory damages, their attorneys celebrated the judgment, saying that it isby farthe largest federal wrongful death verdict in Utah history. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, died on June 13, 2020 when she, along with her new husband Ludovic Michaud, visited Utah. Fox News Flash top headlines for December 6. She moved to Boulder, Colorado, to attend the Watson Institute, a program for young entrepreneurs and innovators. Twist after newlywed decapitated by gate at national park - Yahoo! Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. He said he didn't deny Nakajjigo was an extraordinary person, but argued it was difficult to speculate what kind of work she would have gone on to do. "For want of an $8 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good.". Ryan studied neuroscience and has spent the last several years working as an operations manager in transportation logistics. gate Legal Reader is devoted to protecting consumers. The United States government will pay more than $10 million to the family of a Ugandan human rights activist who was decapitated in a 2020 accident at Arches National Park in Utah. The suit was filed on June 8. A gust of wind apparently dislodged the arm of the metal gate, which swung across the roadway. Shelly Bradbury is a breaking news reporter who joined The Denver Post in November 2019. Denver woman Esther "Essie" Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic "Ludo" Michaud, were visiting Arches National Park in mid-June when a freak accident left Nakajjigo dead. After COVID-19 closures were lifted, the newlyweds took a trip to Arches National Park. Lindsay Clancy's murder of 3 kids shows cruel trick psychosis plays, Train derailment in Springfield, Ohio as residents ordered to shelter in place, Rape survivor 'sobbed seeing Gabby Petito bodycam vid after same cop did nothing', Mom 'stabs 3 of her kids to death and wounds 2 others in unsupervised visit', 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, A 25-year-old activist was beheaded in a freak accident while enjoying a trip to Arches National Park in Utah, Esther Nakajjigo died on June 13 after a metal gate swung into a car she and her husband were in and sliced het head off. Trial begins Ugandan woman's death in Arches National Park Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Michaud and Nakajjigo met over a dating app while they both had recently arrived in the Denver area. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Last updated: August 16, 2022 Was this page helpful? WebHikers walk beside the Delicate Arch at sunset in the Arches National Park near Moab, Utah on April 21, 2018. According to CBS News, neither the U.S. government nor the Nakajjigo family disputed the facts of the claim. Employees knew or should have known that winds strong enough to carve stone are certainly strong enough to blow an unrestrained metal pipe gate into the path of an oncoming vehicle, wrote Chang, who plans to file a formal lawsuit if the claim is rejected.. United States attorneys do not dispute that park officials shouldered blame, but argued the amount the family should be awarded is far less and called into questions the ways in which the damages being sought were calculated. They headed to Arches National Park as soon as the park reopened in June from its coronavirus shutdown. 2 min read June 17, 2021 - 6:27AM Esther All rights reserved. Michauds attorneys also said the federal government was aware of the dangers, citing a 1980 accident in which a man was impaled by an unsecured gate as he rode in the back of a pickup in Californias Stanislaus National Forest. Two peopledied Friday while hikinginArches National Park in Utah. The National Park Service has, in fact, known for decades that an unsecured metal pipe gate creates an undetectable hazard and dangerous condition for its park invitees, the claim reads, noting three other instances since 1988 in which people in cars were killed by such gates. Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigo's family, on Monday described the death in gruesome detail. She was decapitated. ", The widower described his late wife as someone who was "always willing to help.". WebWidower Struggles With Loss After Wife Decapitated By Gate In Arches National Park 1,777,542 views Nov 12, 2020 30K Dislike Save CBS Colorado 98.1K subscribers Trial to begin for human rights activist killed by gate in Arches Decapitated human rights activists family wins $10 million lawsuit after accident at Utah park, Denver newlyweds trip to Arches National Park ends with wifes death, Family awarded $10.5 million for newlywed decapitated by metal gate at Arches National Park in Utah. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. The young Ugandan human rights activist was decapitated by an unsecured metal gate on the periphery of Arches National Park. Email: newsroom@coloradosun.com November 13, 2020 / 7:49 AM The park was at capacity and it was just after 8 a.m. National parks want to On June 13, they had gone on a hike and had a picnic. The tragic accident is now the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit Michaud and Nakajjigo's family are pursuing, in which they argue that the U.S. Park Service was negligent and did not maintain the gates at the entrances and exits to the parks, leading to Nakajjigo's death. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Around 2 p.m., they were driving to get ice cream in the town of Moab when the gate swung into their path. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, was on a trip to the Utah park with her husband of three months when the gate swung across the road and struck their car on June 13, 2020. WebThe family of a womens rights activist who was killed in a gruesome accident at a national park is suing a US agency over her tragic death. By the time Nakajjigo left Uganda to pursue a fully-funded leadership course in Denver, she had raised enough money to build health care facilities in her hometown. Activist, 25, hailed as future Oprah or Princess Diana is Nakajjigo was offered a full scholarship to the Watson Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and started a social entrepreneurship program in early 2019. Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. In his ruling, Judge Jenkins said that the death was gruesome and overwhelmingly shocking.. The family of a young woman who was killed by a swinging gate at Arches National Park has sued the park service over her death. ", "Such metal pipe gates have been known to move when left unsecured, swing to the traveled part of the roadways, and penetrate into vehicles," the claim argues. We just dont want this to ever happen again, Michaud said in an interview Thursday. A metal gate at Arches National Park killed a woman. Its now the A lot of people just want to continue that because thats what she would have wanted from us.. WebVideo of the crash shows Michaud was driving and Nakajjigo was in the front passenger seat as they drove toward the gate at about the same speed as other vehicles, according to a Michaud is asking for more than $220 million in damages for wrongful death, and $20 million in damages for personal injury. A newlywed couples road trip to Arches National Park in Utah ended in tragedy when a metal gate at the park exit swung across the road and decapitated the 25-year-old woman as she rode in a car. "I was a couple of inches from dying, but I didnt, and right now I have a mission: Its to make sure what shes done continues," said Michaud. She was consistently working to improve the lives of women in Africa and beyond. Market data provided by Factset. Example video title will go here for this video. U.S. Government to Pay $10m to Family of Ugandan Activist Killed National Park The webcams below provide views from either end of the Arches National Park entrance road. The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state our community can better understand itself. Webcam Entrance Station Webcam The most important thing for me is to try continuing what shes done, Michaud said. We take pride in exposing the hypocrisy of corporations, other organizations, and individuals whose actions put innocent people in harms way. Nakijjijo, originally from Uganda, "was a world-renowned activist, movie and TV star as well as a youth influencer," the claim says. 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FILE - Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Fox News Flash top headlines are here. There was less than a second between when the gate started to move and when it struck the car and killed Nakajjigo, according to the report. On the edge of the park, a metal gate normally secured with a lock was left untethered. Her family is filing a $270 million wrongful death claim against the park, saying her death was preventable. Nelson, the government's attorney, said an appropriate award would be $3.5 million, far less than the $140 million being pursued. The family is hoping to use money from the case to continue Essie's projects. The familys claim said that three other people in cars were killed by such gates on National Park Service property since 1988. (AP Photo/Lindsay Whitehurst, File). The United Nations Population Fund gave her a Woman Achiever Award when she was 17, and she was named Ugandas Ambassador for Women and Girls at the ceremony. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, died in June 2020 as she and her husband of three months drove out of the park, in southern Utah. CBS News GRAND COUNTY, Utah A 27-year-old Denver man filed a wrongful death claim against the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) on Oct. 22 after it says his wife was decapitated by a vehicle gate at Arches National Park in Grand County, Utah. The family of a womens rights activist from Uganda has filed a more than $270 million wrongful death and personal injury claim against the National Park Service after she was decapitated by an unsecured gate at Utahs Arches National Park. The newlyweds were driving during a camping trip on June 13, when a strong gust of wind blew an unsecured metal gate that sliced through the side of their car and decapitated Nakajjigo. According to the family's claim, three other people have died from similar accidents with unsecured gates over the past 32 years. In opening statements Monday in Salt Lake City, attorneys representing Michaud and Nakajjigo's family said they were seeking $140 million in damages from the government. Arches National Park is best known for its pristine sandstone arches and its massive red Delicate Arch, which has featured in countless Instagram photos.. On October 22, Michaud filed a wrongful death claim against Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. The United Nations Population Fund gave her a Woman Achiever Award when she was 17, and she was named Ugandas Ambassador for Women and Girls at the ceremony. RELATED: Search of Aurora house in case of missing teen Lashaya Stine continues, RELATED: Head brewer at Denver Beer Co. dies in climbing accident, SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Local stories from 9NEWS. Newlyweds Esther Essie Nakajjigo, 25, and Ludovic Ludo just as COVID-19 was starting to make U.S. headlines, Do not sell or share my personal information. Legal Statement. More Videos Next up in 5 Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Ludovic Michaud and Essie Nakajjigo (credit: Ludovic Michaud), Denver Woman Decapitated By Gate: Family Files $270M Wrongful Death Claim Against Arches National Park.
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