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After life-threatening injuries, Mass. women sue neighboring owner over fallen tree
In early August, three women in Orange were injured by a falling tree. Two were nearly killed. They say an uncooperative property owner is to blame.
Danyelle Bushee is angry.
On Aug. 9, things had been looking up. The 35-year-old mother of three and her boyfriend had just bought a house on Maple Street in Orange after saving up. She had a good job as a nurse, and had just gotten out of work. Her sister, 31-year-old Brittany Bushee, was waiting at Danyelle’s home so that the two could go pick up their daughters from summer camp. Melissa Chiasson, a friend, was also with them. It was sometime between 3:30 and 4 p.m. That’s when all three of their lives changed.
A rotten tree on a neighboring property suddenly crashed to the ground. It struck all three women, tore through Danyelle’s deck, and damaged a car parked in the driveway. Danyelle and Brittany have no memory of the incident. Chiasson got choked up and was unable to speak about it at a press conference this week.
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The three women are suing Peter Rocklin, a New Jersey resident who owns the neighboring property. In a complaint filed in Franklin County Superior Court, they allege Rocklin did not properly maintain his property, failing to remove the problem tree despite knowing that it and others posed a threat to those nearby. They are being represented by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers. Attorneys from the firm arranged the press conference after finding Rocklin to be uncooperative, they said.
“It’s really a miracle that all of us made it through alive,” Brittany told reporters.
First responders described a horrifying scene in an incident report. Danyelle was found lying on her back, unconscious, with a large pool of blood around her head. Brittany was sitting on the front porch stairs with a “significant” amount of blood coming from her head. She was having trouble speaking and kept closing her eyes as if attempting to sleep. She could not tell police what her date of birth was, but said that her pain level was at an eight out of 10. Police kept speaking with her to keep her awake. Chiasson was also bleeding from a head wound, according to the report, filed by an Orange police officer.
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Danyelle required intubation, having suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken vertebrae, fractured ribs, and a broken femur. She was hospitalized for two months and now requires 24/7 care, according to her lawyers.
“I can’t do anything for myself, so it’s really tough because I was so independent before. So, life is very depressing. Very tough. I’ve been dealing with a lot,” she said at the press conference.
Brittany was hospitalized for three nights due to a skull fracture and brain bleeding. She continues to live with short-term memory loss, hearing loss, and occasional numbness in her extremities. Chiasson suffered more minor shoulder and neck injuries that require physical therapy.
Brittany and Danyelle’s young daughters are now scared of trees falling on them whenever it is windy, and are scared their mothers may not come home when they leave the house, they said.
Their lawsuit seeks “to recover damages related to indefinite medical expenses, serious bodily injuries causing physical pain, disfigurement and impairment, mental anguish, emotional distress, as well as loss or earnings now and in the future.”
Rocklin lives in New Jersey and rents his property out, the lawyers for the three women said. He allegedly knew of another tree falling there in the months prior to the incident that injured the three women. Authorities said that the second tree that fell was planned to be taken down due to its state of rot, they said.
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Rocklin was briefly contacted via phone by the attorneys. He asked if Danyelle was alive, then grew uncooperative and hung up, they said.
“If one phone call was made by the defendant Peter Rocklin regarding this tree situation, we wouldn’t be here today. Danyelle would be getting ready to go into the ER as a nurse, and not someone who’s laying on her bed in need of her sister’s help, her son’s help, her boyfriend’s help. Her whole life was uprooted, and one phone call to a tree removal service would have immediately cured this issue,” attorney John McCarthy told reporters.
While the women and their lawyers hope that Rocklin can be found responsible, much damage has already been done.
“I’m not good. I’m a very angry, depressed, anxious person now,” Danyelle said.
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