A University of Oregon student was walking on a tree-lined path on campus earlier this year when a pine suddenly toppled onto her — fracturing her spine and leaving her lower body permanently paralyzed, a lawsuit claims.
Attorneys for Olivia Rose Edwards seek $16.3 million from the Eugene university for medical bills as well as pain and suffering, according to papers filed Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court.
“The tree was fatally weakened by disease or some other cause,” the lawsuit claims. “Such weakness would have been apparent upon reasonable and routine maintenance and inspection.”…