F. R. was a regular user of the gym in the capital from 2013. She went to the gym on September 6th 2017 for some exercise and had an unfortunate experience with one of their treadmills. She didn’t realize that the machine was being run by another subscriber. She lost her balance, and she ended up on the floor. She broke her leg. She suffered a bruised leg and left foot. After her accident, she attended 11 physiotherapy sessions by herself (these were not prescribed to her by her doctor). She spent 260 euros on them and decided to sue the gym for that amount and any eventual compensation.
The claim was made against the insurance company that insures the establishment. However, it has not been successful. The Court of First Instance 18 of Granada dismissed the claim. It held that the fault was solely the user and exempted the insurance company of any liability.
The Court of Granada issued a ruling on April 25 that confirmed that the accident wasn’t due to negligence. The machine was in “good condition” and ready to be used. It states that the machine was in good condition and fit for use. It concludes that there is no evidence to link the negative results to the gym. It also doesn’t appear that that tape was used in a controlled activity. The staff at the center didn’t have to know about it.
In her appeal, the woman claimed that her fall was caused by the fact that a previous subscriber had not activated the instantaneous stop mechanism. According to her, such an omission led to her “mistakenly” getting on the treadmill with the false belief that she was standing. In fact, she remained in motion for five second.
“We cannot assume that the appellant’s arguments are true”, state the Third Section magistrates, who concluded that the victim fell due to “distraction” and was also “aware” of the apparatus.
The first sentence refers to the physiotherapy sessions she received. It is clear that only a report was provided by a physiotherapist indicating that the patient received rehabilitation but that it was for conditions that have little to do with the fall. It is true that she was treated in the cervical, dorsal and right trapezius areas, periscapular muscle, right shoulder, and right shoulder regions. The left leg was the only thing that was affected by the fall (…). Javier Lopez and Garcia de la Serrana (directors of HispaColex) have defended the insurance.
