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. Ryan Farrick is a freelance writer and small business advertising consultant based out of mid-Michigan. Shelly Bradbury is a breaking news reporter who joined The Denver Post in November 2019. In the courts ruling, Judge Jenkins awarded $9.5 million to Nakajjigos husband, $700,000 to her mother, and $350,000 to her father. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, died on June 13, 2020 when she, along with her new husband Ludovic Michaud, visited Utah. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! 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. 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. "She was very strong personality, really funny, really smart," said Ludovic Michaud, Essie Nakajjigo's husband. 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. 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. WebDENVER -- Ludovic Michaud has notified the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service that he intends to file a wrongful death lawsuit because of a crash at the entrance The most famous arch is the Delicate Arch which Is in Archs National Park. Read more about Traffic and Travel Tips. 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. Video 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. I'm still struggling with that," Michaud said. Arches National Park, which has more than 2,000 natural stone arches,closed Delicate Arch on Friday for a about six hours before it reopened, the parksaid on Twitter. Nakajjigo moved to Boulder, Colorado when she was offered a full scholarship to the Watson Institute and began a social entrepreneurship program in 2019. 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. WebThe family of Ugandan philanthropist Esther Nakajjigo, who was decapitated by a traffic gate in front of her husband in Arches National Park in Utah, has been awarded $10.5m. Elon Musk Wins Funding Secured Shareholder Lawsuit, Blog vs YouTube Over Other Websites: How to Choose, Behind the Story of Ghostbed vs. Purple Mattress Lawsuit, Investigation Reveals Goodyears Dunlop D402 Tires Have Caused Dozens of Motorcycle Accidents, Amputees Third Attempt at Holding Medical Personnel Responsible Pays Off. All rights reserved. WebThe family of a young woman who was killed by a swinging gate at Arches National Park has sued the park service over her death. The humanitarian had traveled to the US to further her studies and was awarded with the Luff Peace Fellowship by the University of Boulder in Colorado. Ludovic Michaud and Essie Nakajjigo (credit: Ludovic Michaud), Denver Woman Decapitated By Gate: Family Files $270M Wrongful Death Claim Against Arches National Park. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. Arches National Park WebEsther Nakajjigo and Ludovic Michaud at Arches National Park in eastern Utah. Her family is filing a $270 million wrongful death claim against the park, saying her death was preventable. He told NBC that the harrowing accident has left him traumatized, and he continues to suffer from PTSD months after. Listen online or download the iHeart App. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. The webcams below provide views from either end of the Arches National Park entrance road. Webcams The trial over a wrong death lawsuit of a Ugandan activist has begun. 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. CBS News reports that the case attracted significant attention, considering the gruesome circumstances and Nakajjigos status as a relatively well-known human rights activist. We take pride in exposing the hypocrisy of corporations, other organizations, and individuals whose actions put innocent people in harms way. He is seeking a little more than $240 million in damages, while Nakajjigos parents are seeking $30 million. A metal gate at Arches National Park killed a woman. Its now the A 30-year-old man who also fell was hospitalized; his current condition is unknown. 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. Family of Ugandan philanthropist decapitated by traffic gate in Upon leaving, an unsecured metal gate swung into the road, killing Nakajjigo who was sitting in the passenger seat. WebThis incident happened June 13 just before 2 p.m. as the couple were leaving the park, according to the claim. 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. "We dont know with any level of certainty what her plans were," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nelson said. NBC reported that he was flown to Moab Regional Hospital. 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NEW YORK POLICE SERGEANT FATALLY STRUCK IN WRONG-WAY CRASH. gate "How do you measure someone like her? just as COVID-19 was starting to make U.S. headlines, Do not sell or share my personal information. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, tragically died on June 13 after a metal gate swung into the car she and her 26-year-old husband Ludovic Michaud were driving as they exited the parking lot of the Utah landmark. Trial begins Ugandan woman's death in Arches National Park Courtesy An activist's dreams 'were about to come true.' Then, a horrific Attorneys representing the victims family asked the court to award an estimated $140 million, whereas the U.S. government argued that $3.5 million would be more appropriate and comparable to similar awards in similar claims. Two peopledied Friday while hikinginArches National Park in Utah. Image via Wikimedia Commons via Flickr/user: Brian Turner. That same year, she was awarded the Woman Achiever Award from the United Nations Population Fund. WebDENVER The family of a Denver woman, who was killed when the entrance gate at Arches National Park swung into the passenger compartment of a rental car and decapitated her, 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. She's done more at the age of 25 than most people do in their entire lives," she said. Attorney Deborah Chang, who filed the claim on behalf of Michaud, as well as Nakajjigos parents, wrote that the National Park Service has for years used entrance and exit gates made of metal poles with spear-like sharp ends, and they were known to swing into roadways when left unsecured. While growing up in Uganda, Nakajjigo used her college tuition funds to open up a nonprofit community education center in her home country. A gavel. One of the Denver couple's stops was Arches National Park near Moab. Park staff told investigators that the gates own weight usually kept it in place, according to a report from the Grand County sheriffs office. Example video title will go here for this video. She received numerous other humanitarian awards and created a popular reality television series aimed at empowering young mothers. Arches National Park is a 120-square-mile desert landscape near Moab, Utah, that is visited by more than 1.5 million people annually. Ryan studied neuroscience and has spent the last several years working as an operations manager in transportation logistics. The show saw an audience of 6.3 million each week, and Nakajjigo was named Ugandas Young Personality of the Year,' the Denver Post reported in a 2020 article detailing Nakajjigos death. Produced by the Discovery Channel, this video highlights the geological marvels and cultural history of both Arches and Canyonlands, with footage of the spectacular and challenging red rock wilderness surrounding them. WebThe photo in this video of the arch is Corona Arch and I dont its in Archs national park. Family sues after newlywed is killed by gate at Arches park She received numerous other humanitarian awards and created a popular reality television series aimed at empowering young mothers. The gate narrowly missed Michaud, who is originally from Paris but now lives in Denver. For want of an $8 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good, the lawsuit said. Newlyweds Esther Essie Nakajjigo, 25, and Ludovic Ludo Michaud, 27, were driving out of the park during a camping trip on June 13 when strong winds blew the metal gate into the side of their car and penetrated it like a hot knife through butter, according to the administrative claim, which was filed in October. She was living in Boulder, Colorado, and attending the Watson Institute, a program for young entrepreneurs and innovators, when she met Michaud. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic Michaud, were on vacation in eastern Utah, visiting national parks across the region several months after their wedding. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. death 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. This story has been updated to correct Michauds age. 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. In Pittsburgh, she helped the newspaper earn the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news after a mass shooting at a local synagogue. They married about three months prior. Michaud, from France, took a job at a start-up. WebThey said claims by the family's lawyers that Nakajjigo, who was 25 at the time of her death, was on track to be a nonprofit CEO shortly were too speculative to be used as a basis for 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. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Legal Statement. 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. Provided by Michaud's claim alleges that if the gate had been properly installed or an $8 padlock had been placed to secure it from swinging, the world wouldn't have lost "a young woman influencer destined to become our society's future Princess Diana, Philanthropist Melinda Gates, or Oprah Winfrey. Arches National Park DENVER (AP) 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. WebEsther Essie Nakajjigo was 25 years old when an unsecured gate inside Arches National Park swung open and impaled the vehicle she was a passenger in, killing her. Nakajjigo, adds CBS, had grown up in poverty. Newlyweds Esther Essie Nakajjigo, 25, and Ludovic Ludo The couple was on their way to get ice cream when "the end of the lance-like gate pierced the side of their car and penetrated it like a hot knife through butter," according to the claim, which was obtained by NBC News. "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.". She was decapitated. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. 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. 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. "It could have happened to anyone and if nothing is done, it's going to happen again," he said. WebThe United States will pay family members of a Ugandan human rights activist who was killed in a 2020 accident at Arches National Park more than $10 million in damages, a federal Last updated: August 16, 2022 Was this page helpful? 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. "She really loved the Denver vibe and so do I. WebHikers walk beside the Delicate Arch at sunset in the Arches National Park near Moab, Utah on April 21, 2018. The gate narrowly missed Michaud, who was driving. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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. He didn't know Nakajjigo had a massive following in her native Uganda. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. Chang said she plans to file a formal lawsuit if the claim is rejected. 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. Nakajjigo and Michaud, a French-born tech solutions architect, met on a dating app last year and tied the knot at a courthouse ceremony in March. Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigo's family, on Monday described the death in gruesome detail. 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. 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. 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. All rights reserved. No An official form of the United States government. Nakajjigo was offered a full scholarship to the Watson Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and started a social entrepreneurship program in early 2019. future Oprah or Princess Diana They were married in March 2020 and headed to Arches on a belated honeymoon as soon as the park reopened from its coronavirus shutdown. She also created a popular reality television series that helped child mothers stay in school and develop life skills, according to The Denver Post. All rights reserved. Newlyweds Esther Essie Nakajjigo, 25, and Ludovic Ludo Michaud, 26, were driving to get ice cream during a camping trip June 13 when a metal gate blew closed in strong winds and sliced through the side of their car like a hot knife through butter, according to the administrative claim, which was filed in October. 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 The park which has over 2000 arches that WebMOAB, Utah Ludo Michaud heard a loud noise. / CBS Colorado. On the edge of the park, a metal gate normally secured with a lock was left untethered. 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. The gate barely missed Michaud. 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. 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.