A mother experienced the terror of seeing a speeding, out of control car careening directly at her while she waited for her 4-year-old son to walk to her. She was momentarily relieved when the vehicle suddenly swerved away, but then witnessed what no parent should ever see: the vehicle hit her young son and sent him flying through the air and into a ditch.
When she came to his bloodied body she believed he was dead. While her son did survive, the mother was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. The insurance company would not compensate her for her emotional injuries because “she had not been hit by the vehicle”.
Mr. Streed took this case to the Minnesota Supreme Court (twice). Ultimately the Court recognized the legal rights of this mother, who witnessed the gruesome, graphically traumatic event of her child being severely injured, to make a claim for emotional damages caused by the negligent person who caused the incident to happen. This is a landmark case in Minnesota tort damages law.
MN Supreme Court CITATION: 706 N.W2.d 764