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A jury verdict of $2.2 million was awarded in the wrongful drowning of a 2 year-old child. attorney Reardon represented the estate of Wyatt Bresnan, and his parents, Timothy and Tina Bresnan, against the defendant, Pachaug Marina and Campground Association. The jury determined that the Campground was negligent by placing a children’s playground close to boating docks at Pachaug Pond.

During the afternoon of July 23, 1997, Wyatt Bresnan and his 3 year-old brother wandered from their yard and headed to the playground. The Bresnans’ backyard borders the campground where the playground is located. Wyatt Bresnan later fell from the defendant’s dock which is adjacent to the children’s playground. His body was recovered from the pond after he had drowned.

The lawsuit was based on the doctrine of “attractive nuisance.” By placing a playground directly adjacent to a marina, the campground was negligent in that the un-gated dock was a danger to children playing in the area, and the campground should have known that children would be attracted to the dock, considering the close proximity to the playground.

This case is analogous to drowning in swimming pools, which are required to have a fence placed around them. A fence cannot be placed around an entire pond, but at a minimum, the dock should have been gated at relatively little cost to the campground.

As a final note, since this verdict was announced, the campground has removed the playground so that future tragedies such as this one, will not occur.