Dallin Cunningham Utah boy dies after falling off ‘corkscrew’ school slide as boy’s parents, Timothy and Kathryn Cunningham now file wrongful death lawsuit accusing the school district of culpability.
Would he still be alive otherwise…? The parents of an 8-year-old Utah boy who died after falling out of a corkscrew slide on his elementary school playground have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a school district.
Dallin Cunningham was playing on a corkscrew-style slide the at the Rose Springs Elementary School playground on February 6, 2023, when he fell seven feet and suffered fatal blunt force trauma to the head.
His parents, Timothy and Kathryn Cunningham, are suing the Tooele County School District for $90,000 and other undisclosed damages for failing to properly supervise Dallin and allowing unsafe playground conditions, according to KUTV.
‘frozen rock-hard’ surface,
The suit alleges the school was negligent in failing to line the playground floor with an adequate layer of mulch padding. At the time of his fall, Dallin landed on a ‘frozen rock-hard’ surface, resulting in fatal blunt-force trauma to his head, the suit stated.
Mulch underneath the slide, at the time, was ‘1 inch in depth before being frozen solid underneath,’ court documents stated.
Dallin was unconscious after the fall and was transported to the hospital where he died.
The 8-year-old died of severe brain damage including trauma to the right occipital subscapular hematoma, fracture of the right side of the frontal bone, cerebral edema and hemorrhaging as a result of his fall.
The lawsuit argued the school district is liable because the playground did not meet safety standards including excessive slide slop and inadequate mulch.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the surfaces around playground equipment should have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, or pea gravel.
School was scared to read police report
‘Using a surface for the playground beneath the playground equipment consisting of a dangerous condition of a frozen hard surface rather than a material which would have better absorbed the hard impact of Dallin’s fall,’ the complaint said.
‘The standard is 12 inches of fill material which is anticipated to compress to a minimum of 9 inches of fill. As measured on the playground, due to faulty design and maintenance, the playground mulch was approximately 1 inch in depth before being frozen solid underneath.’
The family called the slide ‘unreasonably dangerous’ in the suit, saying it was ‘excessively fast and steep’ without having any safety railings to prevent riders from falling.
‘The best estimate that the police were able to come up with is that the slide is 11 feet tall,’ family lawyer, Peter Mifflin told KSLTV. ‘His exit from the slide was approximately 7 feet off the ground. In what position he was in, we’re not sure.’ Adding, ‘(the school) were kind of scared to read the police report.’
Utah boy’s death deeply felt
According to family, the school didn’t call 911 for ten minutes after the boy’s fall, FOX13 reported.
Following the tragedy the boy’s father Timothy, retired from his job, while Dallin’s mother Kathryn, writing a book about processing her grief, family attorney Peter Mifflin told KSLTV.
Dallin’s obituary described him as a friendly and outgoing boy who was always making new friends.
‘Dallin is the perfect, imperfect eight-year-old little boy. Sometimes teasing, sometimes antagonizing, but always in love for his three sisters, his mommy, and daddy,’ said the obituary.
‘No comment…’
‘He loves playing board games and card games like Sushi Go!, Throw Throw Burrito, Uno, and many more. But he is always more excited to play when one of his sisters will be playing with him.’
The 8-year-old was described as athletic, loved playing soccer, was very flexible and creative.
‘When he doesn’t have access to video games, he will pull out a complex puzzle to work on or draw funny pictures,’ the obituary read.
The Cunningham’s church bishop told FOX 13, ‘It has been a heartbreaking experience and we will never be the same. He was a bright, vibrant boy with the best smile and laugh.’
The school district declined media overtures for comment on the boy’s death, stating that they are ‘unable to provide a comment at this time‘ due to the active lawsuit.
The slide has reportedly been removed from the playground.
