G.H., was an 83-year-old retired employee of Paccar, spent his days tinkering in his backyard, looking after his grandchildren, and helping anyone in the neighborhood who may have needed assistance.
G.H. was described by his family as someone who offered unconditional love and could be known as one of the kindest individuals you would ever meet. He always one to put his family before himself. He financially supported his son’s family, helping with their rent, grocery bills, and medical bills.
G.H. believed in quality time. He loved spending time with his grandsons. He would push them on the swing set, teach them outdoor skills, and played all games upon their request. He spent priceless hours and days with his extended family, enjoying each minute of his senior years. His grandsons were 9 and 12 years old at the time of his death.
On the date of the accident, G.H. had just gone to the grocery store to get groceries for his son and a money order to help his son cover the April rent. While on his way home, he noticed multiple trees that had fallen on the road due to the ongoing storm. He voluntarily exited his vehicle and helped move trees off of the roadway. He had just parked in his son’s driveway located at a mobile home park when his life was taken away from him. G.H. was exiting his vehicle when a tree maintained by a mobile home park fell and crushed him to death. Following impact, a bystander performed CPR to G.H while 9-1-1 was called.
While he lay on the ground his two grandchildren had just arrived home from school only to witness him being pinched underneath the tree. G.H. was able to hug one of his grandchildren who had come up and let both of his grandchildren know that he loved them. His two grandchildren watched him as he was placed into the ambulance and would never know this would be their last goodbye.
Once the ambulance arrived, G.H. was rushed to Harborview and died approximately 4 hours later following an attempt at keeping him alive. To make matters worse, G.H. was alert and in distress during his entire ride to the Hospital. During his last final moments, G.H. was tortured with fear of his impending death for several hours. G.H. complained to the doctors through exasperated breaths of chest pain, shortness of breath and feeling of impending doom. Unfortunately, G.H. suffered his final hours alone as his son was unable to make it to the hospital in time. On April 4, 2022, G.H. died.
The mobile home park located in the King County Area was surrounded by an abundance of trees. Unfortunately, most of the trees were deceased and/or were in the process of dying. Despite prior knowledge and notice from multiple residents at the mobile home park, the mobile home park failed to cut down the deceased trees. The mobile home park failed to adequately protect individuals from a known danger including a deceased tree.
The minimal insurance limits of the owner of the mobile home park was recovered as well as the insurance policy limit for the mobile home park itself resulting in a total recovery of $2 million for the Estate of G.H.