Pumpkin patch splat

Posted on October 24, 2012 in Our Blog,Public Safety

Autumn is in the air! The leaves are changing color, there is a crispness in the air, and it is time for apple cider and pumpkin patches. Going out to a pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island has become an annual tradition for many families, but not for Debra Goolsby.

Goolsby visited The Pumpkin Patch, a Sauvie Island patch owned by Bob and Kari Egger, in October of 2010. The patch offers rides to the pumpkin fields on hay wagons, which are tractor-pulled flatbed trailers loaded with hay bales. Goolsby rode one, and when she jumped off the side, she got her foot caught on some twine and fell to the ground. She is now suing the patch owners for $432,000, which includes $37,600 for medical bills, $19,200 for lost wages, and $375,000 for pain and suffering.

The Eggers have owned and operated the pumpkin patch since 1992. Some 100,000 people visit the farm every year. The Eggers claim that of the some 200,000 visitors since Goolsby’s injury, none suffered a major injury.

For more on this story, see this article.