Who is liable?

Gymnastics child star Larissa (12) injured on a public bus

The 12-year-old's arm was caught between the handrail and the door on the way to training.

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

She performs double somersaults on the floor and dreams of the Olympic Games. A serious arm injury ended the 2023 season prematurely for twelve-year-old Larissa. However, the accident in Vienna did not happen during gymnastics, but on a public bus on the way to training. The liability issues are still unresolved.  

She is Austria's greatest young gymnastics hopeful, performing twists and somersaults on the floor and uneven bars, shining with handstands and somersaults on the ten-centimeter-thin balance beam. Larissa, twelve years young and on her way to becoming an international gymnastics great. The Austrian U-12 champion 2022 trains six times a week, for three hours at a time, with the big dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games in a few years' time. 

The 12-year-old's arm was caught between the handrail and the door on the way to training.

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

Arm trapped between the handrail and the door
Artistic gymnastics is a sport in which injuries cannot be ruled out. The development of this great talent was accordingly cautious. Everything was going well until the devastating incident on September 18, 2023, when Larissa was on her way to training with her schoolmates in Vienna's Leopoldstadt district. On the 77A Schlachthausgasse public transport bus, the gymnast was holding on to the yellow handrail when the door opened and shifted her arm until it broke. "I'll never forget that scream," said a classmate. The diagnosis: growth plate of the radius broken and dislocated. She was left with a chipped ulnar handle. Larissa had to wear a plaster cast and splint for weeks, and physiotherapy began in October.

Larissa is a multiple champion and performs difficult elements for her age.

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

The 2023 season was over for Larissa. "The worst thing for her was that she couldn't do gymnastics. She insisted that I take her to the gym despite her plaster cast," says her mom Barbara, who also suffers with her child. The girl is now able to train again, but: "She's not at her previous level. The pain in particular is still causing her difficulties in sport," reports the physiotherapist. 

I would like to thank the doctors and everyone who helped me and were so kind to me in hospital.

Kunstturnerin Larissa (12)

Technical response from the insurance company
The question of liability for the accident has been unresolved for months. Most recently, the insurance company of the bus company Dr. Richard provided a disturbingly technical response: "In terms of a settlement of legal costs, we can offer to assume 1/3 of the accident-related claims without prejudice." Neither fault on the part of the bus driver nor liability for operational risk could be identified. Rather, the girl had stayed in the "step-on area" despite the sign, and she had been aware of the door opening and the associated dangers.

The complicated fracture was very painful.

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

An unbelievable letter, considering that the victim was a schoolchild. "I want justice for Larissa," says the mother, determined to take legal action. "An eleven-year-old at the time doesn't read all the signs on a crowded bus, but naturally holds on to a stop bar without worrying," she says.

"I hope I can celebrate success again soon"
"I hope to be pain-free again soon and be able to celebrate successes again," says the twelve-year-old sporting hopeful, looking optimistically to the future. She adds: "I would like to thank the doctors and everyone who helped me and were so kind to me in hospital."