DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Could the death of a 10-year-old boy on a water play structure at Camp Dearborn have been prevented? His mom says she believes the answer is yes.
Wednesday, Attorney Ven Johnson filed a lawsuit on her family’s behalf with the goal of protecting other children.
“He was a wonderful kid. He loved his siblings very much. He was a great brother. He loved to play basketball,” Carly Burgess said.
Burgess says her son Carson Dunn was loved.
On July 6, he went to Camp Dearborn, which is owned by the city of Dearborn, to enjoy family time on the Ripping the Waters Tarzan Boat. His mom says he was on a platform about to jump.
“He lost his footing and grabbed the rail and somehow slipped and fell,” Burgess said.
“They put the ladder directly underneath where this jump off point was,” Johnson said.
Johnson says Carson landed on the ladder. The trauma caused internal bleeding. When Carson fell, Johnson says no workers or lifeguards were on the structure. Plus, jet skis used by workers were not in operation to get them quickly to the platform.
“I did not know that the jet skis were not in operation or I would not have let him go out there,” Burgess said.
“They had to manually swim him back to the beach. So, the ambulance and everyone was waiting on him to get back to the beach,” she continued. “It felt like forever. It really did feel like forever.”
Carson’s heart stopped in the ambulance.
“They trusted the city of Dearborn and other entities to have safe products and things in the water. Clearly, they didn’t. And sadly, they had to bury their 10-year-old boy,” Johnson said.
Johnson represents the family in a lawsuit against the companies that own the boat, the manufacturers and the city of Dearborn. 7 Action News attempted to reach all for comment.
The city of Dearborn provided a statement saying:
“We are aware that a lawsuit has been filed in Oakland County Circuit Court related to this matter, but the City has not been served. We have no additional comments at this time.”
Burgess says the goal of the lawsuit is to make sure changes are made to protect other children.
“I want justice for him. He didn’t deserve this. He had his whole life ahead of him,” she said.
To honor Carson, people who know him have set up a scholarship fund to help children play basketball in his honor.
