Family Sues Port and Business Over Son's Injuries From Fall

By Danielle Briones

Published on July 22, 2005

While working on a whale watching boat as an employee of San Juan Excursions Alex Ralston, 18, fell 8 and a half feet off of the boat onto a dock and became paralyzed. The area of the boat that he fell from was not equipped with safety railing, which the family claims would have prevented the fall. The suit finds both the Port and Port Angeles Marine negligent for not forcing the boat owners to replace or safeguard areas of the boat from which the handrails had been removed. This is an unprecedented case in that the owner of the marina has been named as responsible for injuries that occurred on a boat docked there. San Juan Excursions is charged with negligence in a secondary suit filed by the family.

Alex's injuries have confined him to a wheel chair and resulted in a loss of hearing and a host of other injuries. According to the Ralstons, Alex now requires expensive medical equipment, special handicapped accommodations, and 24 hour nursing care.

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