Texas teen visiting New Orleans suffers brain damage after tree falls on him

The family of a Texas teenager who is recovering from a severe brain injury after a tree limb struck him from above while in New Orleans’ French Quarter is suing the city.

Gavin Cristea, from San Antonio, Texas was visiting New Orleans with his family when the 85-year-old tree limb in Jackson Square fell on July 7 and struck him in the head as he was sitting on a bench with his mother and sibling, the lawsuit states. 

“There are so many unknowns right now,” the Cristea family said in a statement. “We don’t even know what the damage to his brain is and we already know that he has so many more surgeries ahead. It’s been a roller coaster and every time it looks like things start going well, there is some kind of setback and they are back to square one.”

The legal action was filed on Wednesday and also names ArborPro Inc., Bayou Tree Service, Inc., Smith Construction Company, and Hudson Insurance Company as defendants. Fox News Digital has reached out to the city and to these companies.

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“Unbeknownst to him or his family, however, the large tree that stood next to the bench had been in critically poor condition for some time and was now on the brink of total failure,” the filing said. 

The lawsuit states that construction around Jackson Square had possibly damaged the tree’s root system, resulting in a loss of “crown volume” and greenery, Fox 8 reported. It was the responsibility of the arborists to identify the defects and recommend a plan to prune the tree and prevent catastrophic limb failures.

“This cycle of decline progresses without improvement until the tree ultimately failed, shedding multiple sizeable limbs,” the document states. “On information and belief, the Jackson Square Renovation Phase II project caused or contributed to the decline of the subject tree.”

The lawsuit claims the tree limb’s failure began years before with a negligent inspection, deficient work by a city contractor and the city’s failure to care for the tree and “take appropriate measures to protect the public from a rotten tree that had already shed one large limb days earlier.”

As a result of the fallen limb, Cristea sustained a serve brain injury and injuries to his skull, face and spine. The family is seeking unspecified damages.