(Photo via Jessica Lumedge on GoFundMe)
ORLANDO | Adriana Edgerton and Jessica Lumedge, the mothers of a child injured at the 2024 Downtown Orlando Holiday Drone Show at Lake Eola, formally filed a lawsuit Aug. 8 against the City of Orlando and the drone companies involved in the incident, alleging negligence and product defects.
During the drone show in December, 7-year-old Alezander Edgerton was injured by a drone malfunctioning and falling directly onto him.
After the incident, Alezander spent the holidays in the hospital undergoing emergency open heart surgery and medical treatment for his injuries.
“As a result of injuries sustained from this incident, A.E. has sustained traumatic, permanent injuries requiring medical treatment and will continue to suffer physical, emotional, and financial harm,” the suit claims.
The show consisted of 500 drones that formed holiday themed designs in the sky over Lake Eola for the public to view. Before the show, multiple drones failed to accept the flight path causing them to malfunction and fall out of the sky during the performance.
Videos of the drones falling during the show were shared online immediately following the incident.
“The Subject Drone was one such malfunctioning drone, and when it left formation, the Subject Drone entered the space occupied by spectators at a high rate of speed, and struck A.E. in the face and chest, causing severe and permanent injuries,” the suit reads.
The drone companies Sky Elements, LLC, Uvify, Inc., Uvify, Co. Ltd. and SPH Engineering are all included in the lawsuit. These companies are based in Delaware, Latvia and South Korea.
They are required to appear for court proceedings in Orange County under the Florida Long Arm Statute.
“Defendant, City of Orlando, knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known that the Subject Drone Show involved high-risk aerial equipment and that the Subject Drones posed a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm to the public, including spectators such as A.E,” the suit claims.
Watermark Out News has reached out to the City of Orlando but did not receive a response as of press time.
Edgerton seeks compensatory damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other losses and has requested a jury trial.
Alezander has recovered from his surgery and is currently home with his mothers continuing to heal. The latest update on a GoFundMe page launched to support those efforts noted “Zander is out of surgery and still fighting!”
To contribute to Alezander’s donations, visit GoFundMe.com
