A 91-year-old cruise tourist is suing the Ketchikan Gateway Borough for negligence after his mobility scooter overturned on a public bus.
The complaint was filed in federal court in Alaska on May 8. It says Donald Gillingham of Montana and his wife were on a cruise and docked in Ketchikan in September. Gillingham has limited mobility, so they rented a motorized scooter and boarded a public bus.
The complaint says the elderly man's mobility scooter overturned when the bus turned left. It also states that Gillingham was seriously injured in the fall, although he was not aware of the severity at the time. It wasn't until he returned to the cruise ship and was later evaluated at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau that he discovered he reportedly had three broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Ketchikan's public buses have internal straps to secure mobility scooters. Gillingham's lawyers claim that because the straps are not mandatory, the driver did not ask him to use them. The complaint claims the borough owes a duty of care to its passengers, which it neglected by failing to transport Gillingham safely.
Gillinghams' lawyers, Mark and Jon Choate, declined to comment on the case in an email.
Ketchikan Borough Manager Ruben Duran also said in an email that he was aware of a possible lawsuit but had not received any notice.
The complaint accuses the district of one count of negligence and one count of loss of consortium. Loss of Consortium is a charge filed on behalf of Gillingham's wife, Patricia Gillingham, and alleges that the physical and emotional trauma suffered by her husband eroded the quality of their marriage.
