Injuries to Children

Despite the best efforts of parents, children are often vulnerable to a host of accidents and other unintentional injuries. Since their bodies are still developing, an injury to a child may have a more serious or lasting impact than the same injury would have on an adult. The skilled Columbia injury lawyers at Gump, Faiella & Bugalski, LLC have more than 90 years of experience helping children who were hurt in a car crash, on the playground, while riding their bicycle, at a swimming pool, or in other tragic accidents. Our veteran child injury lawyers provide diligent representation to clients throughout Missouri, including in Moberly and Columbia.

Protecting Your Children’s Rights

Kids can be hurt due to a variety of careless adult behaviors. A minor who was carelessly supervised may be harmed on the playground or at a neighborhood swimming pool. Likewise, the injuries sustained by a child who is attending a negligent day care may include burns, scarring, broken bones, and other types of preventable harm. In some cases, a doctor who harms a newborn during delivery or fails to properly treat a child pursuant to the prevailing standard of professional care may have committed malpractice.

Car Accidents Injuring Children in Columbia

Thousands of kids are hurt every year in car accidents or while traveling to or from school on a passenger bus. Although school bus drivers are required to comply with additional safety laws that do not apply to passenger vehicles, children may still sustain an injury or worse in a school bus crash. Since students normally do not wear seat belts while riding a school bus, they may be thrown from their seat in the event of a collision. The injuries a child can sustain in a school bus crash may be life-altering.



Kids in Missouri frequently walk or bike to school, a playground, a friend’s house, and elsewhere. Every year, many children across the state are hurt or killed in a pedestrian or bicycle accident with a car, truck, or other motor vehicle. Any type of traffic wreck may result in debilitating injuries, but the trauma sustained by a child who was struck by an automobile is usually serious. A child may be paralyzed, sustain permanent brain damage, or even die in a pedestrian or bicycle accident.

Consumer Products

Other child injuries and deaths are caused by a dangerous consumer product, such as a defective car seat or playground equipment. A manufacturer or distributor of a consumer product may be held liable for a minor’s harm if the child was hurt because of a negligent product design, manufacturing process, or insufficient safety testing.



In some situations, a defective consumer product may cause someone’s child to become seriously hurt even though it was produced according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Additionally, the maker of a product designed for use by children has a duty to provide adequate instructions and warnings regarding how to properly use the item it manufactured. If a business fails to provide this information, and a child is hurt or killed, the manufacturer may be held financially responsible in a products liability lawsuit.

Filing a Negligence Lawsuit to Seek Compensation for a Child’s Injury

The parents of a minor who was hurt as a result of another person’s careless conduct may bring a negligence claim on behalf of their child to recover compensation for any medical costs, pain and suffering, loss of normal life, and other damages. Generally, a negligent lawsuit requires the parents to show that the defendant owed a duty to their child to act with reasonable care, that the defendant breached this duty by acting carelessly, and that their child was injured by the defendant’s breach.



The amount of time that a person has to file a lawsuit is called the statute of limitations. In Missouri, the statute of limitations varies based upon a child’s type of personal injury claim. For example, a wrongful death case must be filed within three years from the date of a minor’s untimely death, while a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed before an injured child’s 20th birthday. The statute of limitations for all other personal injury lawsuits in Missouri begins to run on a minor child’s 21st birthday. It is important to remember that a claimant may not recover for their child’s injury or wrongful death if a case is not filed before the statute of limitations expires.

Dedicated Columbia Injury Lawyers Serving Injured Children

The mid-Missouri law office of Gump, Faiella & Bugalski, LLC provides aggressive representation and exceptional client service to victims of preventable child injuries and their families. Our skillful Columbia child accident attorneys serve minors and parents who suffered a devastating injury or tragic loss of life.