The 25-year-old human rights activist and newlywed wife. She was named as Ugandas ambassador for women and girls and received an award from the United Nations after she used her university tuition money to start a non-profit community centre that offered free healthcare to girls and women aged 10 to 24. Though the amount was substantially less than pursued, attorneys representing the family of Esther Nakajjigo celebrated the judgment, saying it was the largest federal wrongful death verdict in Utah history. Michaud was the last plaintiff witness in the civil trial over the June 13, 2020, death of his wife, Esther Nakajjigo. But an attorney for her parents and husband said they were grateful for the judgment, which represents the largest federal wrongful death verdict in Utah history, the Associated Press reported. They stipulate, however, that the plaintiffs should be awarded $22,508 for Nakajjigo's funeral expenses and $5,000 for Michaud's therapy expenses. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, was driving around the stunning Arches National Park in Utah, US, in 2020 along with her husband Ludovic Michaud when the unthinkable happened. Chang expects to file the lawsuit in about six months. Esther Nakajjigo was born in poverty in Kampala, Uganda, and rose to become a celebrated human rights activist through her work focusing on preventing teen pregnancy. The same year, Nakajjigo was named Ugandas ambassador for women and girls. Nakajjigo was killed instantly. FILE - Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. On Monday, a federal judge in Utah ruled that the. In their legal complaint, Michaud and Nakajjigos parents said the National Park Service was negligent for not maintaining the gate. Esther Nakajjigo and Ludovic Michaud at Arches National Park in eastern Utah. Our mission is to make sure this doesnt happen again, Michaud said. At age 17, Nakajjigo was recognized by the United Nations for her work for women, according to the claim. Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigos family, on Monday asked the family to leave when he described the death in gruesome detail. She added that the plaintiffs' assumption that Nakajjigo would have taken a salary "far in excess" of most nonprofit CEOs is "simply contrary to everything the court has heard about her," Berndt said. Its a fear of erasing her, I guess, when you use something that she bought or that she ate or that we did together, he said. "This act of selflessness went viral throughout Uganda, and she was featured in numerous magazines and news publications. Berndt also said her team can take into account only Nakajjigo's education and earning history at the time of her death, exclusive from the money she raised for charitable organizations. "I'm doing whatever I can to get better. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Get Toofab breaking news sent right to your browser! The family of a young woman who was killed by a swinging gate at Arches National Park has sued the park service over her death. At age 17, she used her college tuition money to start a nonprofit community health center, which provided free reproductive health services to young women and girls. You wouldnt able to detect it or see it, she told Fox 13. Because neither the U.S. nor Nakajjigos family disputed the facts of the case, the civil suit focused largely on the amount of damages merited. Newlyweds Esther "Essie" Nakajjigo, 25, and Ludovic "Ludo" Michaud, 26, were driving to get ice cream during a camping trip June 13 when a metal gate blew closed in strong winds and sliced . Nakajjigo, 25, was a Ugandan human rights activist and moved to Colorado in 2019 to attend the Watson Institute in Boulder. The closing arguments came after five days of trial that included testimony from Nakajjigo's family, friends and mentors, as well as from bystanders who witnessed the accident. Photo: Esther Nakajjigo/Twitter. One of his regrets is not saying, "I love you," one more time. Opening arguments began Monday in Salt Lake City in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a 25-year-old women's rights activist from Uganda who was killed by a wind-blown gate during a camping trip to Arches National Park in June 2020. mesurer votre utilisation de nos sites et applications. The ongoing trial will largely focus on determining the damages that may go to her family and Michaud. Esther Nakajjigo was driving with her newlywed husband on their honeymoon in Arches when an open road gate was swung by strong winds into their rental car. After seeing a pregnant 14-year-old girl die during a difficult delivery, Nakajjigo decided to use her college tuition money to start a nonprofit community health center that provided free reproductive health services to females aged 10-24. (Julie Jacobson | AP file photo) A Denver man has filed a $270 million wrongful death claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, against the National Park Service after a metal gate at Arches National Park collided collided with his car on June 13, killing his wife. SALT LAKE CITY The United States will pay family members of a Ugandan human rights activist killed in an accident at Arches National Park more than $10 million in damages, a federal judge ruled Monday. Nakajjigo created a reality TV show that helped child mothers stay in school and develop life skills, according to The Denver Post. Attorneys representing Michaud and Nakajjigos parents asked for $140 million in damages, while the government said an appropriate award would be roughly $3.5 million. Berndt said her team in no way believes Nakajjigo was an average person, and that using reliable data to estimate her lost earnings isn't a value judgment of Nakajjigo. Human rights activist Esther Nakajjigo, 25, died on June 13, 2020, when a traffic control gate blew into her rental car at Arches National Park in the US state of Utah. The familys lawsuit claims when the national parks reopened in April 2020 after being shuttered due to Covid-19, rangers at the national park in Utah didnt secure the gate in place, which in effect turned a metal pipe into a spear that went straight through the side of a car, decapitating and killing Esther Nakajjigo. Esther Nakajjigo and Ludovic Michaud at Arches National Park in eastern Utah in the hours before a gate swung into the couple's car, killing Nakajjigo. Michaud, Nakajjigo's husband, spoke about the intense trauma he's endured since his wife's death, including sleeplessness, nightmares and suicidal ideation. Michaud and his in-laws are asking a federal judge for $140 million. The claim she served is legally required before a lawsuit can be filed in court. Lindsay Whitehurst/AP Ludovic Michaud, the husband of late human rights activist Esther Nakajjigo, has filed a $270 million wrongful death administrative claim against the National Park Service, according to a. Nakajjigo married Denver man Ludovic Michaud in March 2020. Nakajjigo was not sure where she wanted to work whether it was in the U.S., back in Uganda or elsewhere but Michaud was willing to follow her wherever she could continue to make the most impact. She rose from poverty to become the host of a solutions-oriented reality television series in Uganda focused on empowering women on issues such as education and healthcare, and had successfully raised funds to build health care facilities in her hometown. The gruesome nature of Nakajjigos death and the fact that she was a renowned Ugandan womens rights activist drew widespread attention to the case. "We respect the judges decision and hope this award will help her loved ones as they continue to heal for this tragedy," added the U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah. Everything reminds Michaud of Nakajjigo. Ms Nakajjigo met Mr Michaud after she relocated to the US, where she was awarded the Luff Peace Fellowship by the University of Boulder in Colorado. ", In 2020, Ludovic Michaud was driving with his 25-year-old wife Esther Nakajjigo out of Utah's Arches National Park to get ice cream on June 13 when a metal gate swung into the car and cut her head off, according to a wrongful death administrative claim obtained by NBC News. The gruesome nature of Nakajjigo's death and the fact that she was a renowned Ugandan women's rights activist drew widespread attention to the case. The United States will pay more than $10 million in damages over the death of Esther Nakajjigo, a prominent Ugandan human rights activist killed in Arches National Park in 2020. The United States will pay more than $10 million in damages over the death of Esther Nakajjigo, a prominent . They had wanted three children. At just 17, using her college tuition money, she created a nonprofit community health center. Join Outside+ to get Outside magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. The gate reportedly smashed through the side of the car and struck Nakajjigo . IE 11 is not supported. I didnt know who she was at first, Michaud, 26, told NBC News in his first interview since Nakajjigos death. Michaud was not injured in the accident, but he was covered head-to-toe in his wifes blood. The end of that trial came Monday, but a verdict is still pending. Additionally, Berndt said the plaintiffs can only speculate on what Nakajjigo might have done had she lived, and the court can't ignore that "in favor of dreams and potential.". The United Nations Population Fund awarded her a Woman Achiever Award," the claim states. The family of a human rights activist killed in a freak accident at Utah's Arches State Park won $10.5 million in damages from the U.S. government. FILE - Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. Esther Nakajjigo had been visiting Utah's Arches National Park when she was killed by a gate caught in the wind. The smaller projection takes into account only the averages of a statistical black woman, she said; while the higher projections factor in that Nakajjigo was a real, extraordinary person. FILE - Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Her mother flew to Utah from Uganda to attend the trial this week. Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic Michaud, were vacationing in eastern Utah, visiting the regions national parks months after their wedding. Esther Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic Michaud, pose at Arches National Park on June 13, 2020. According to Deborah Chang, the Los Angeles-based trial attorney representing Michaud, there was nothing he could have done to swerve out of the way of the gate that killed his wife and narrowly missed him. According to the official statement from Wilson Jaga, the communications head for the office of the Ugandan Women and Girls, Nakajjigo was hit by a metallic gate of the Arches National Park due. Even simple tasks like cooking rice stored in a jar that Nakajjigo bought before her death feel paralyzing, he said. The family of a woman beheaded by a metal gate in front of her husband at a national park has launched a lawsuit for $140million (115m). DENVER (CBS4) - The family of a Denver woman has filed a $270 million wrongful death claim against Arches National Park after she was killed there over the summer. Diana Dasrath is entertainment producer and senior reporter for NBC News covering all platforms. He spoke, too, about the difficulty of sending his wife's body to Uganda in a cardboard box; how only her hands, one of them broken, were visible at her funeral; and how he moved to a new apartment after the accident, unable to bear the reminders of the life he'd shared with Nakajjigo. Having received numerous international accolades and awards, Nakajjigo came to the United States to further her education, where she met Michaud a video streaming technology solution architect via a dating app. Recreation areas had recently opened after pandemic-era closures and, on the edge of Arches, a metal gate normally secured with a lock was left untethered. A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. will shell out more than $10 million in damages to the family of Esther Nakajjigo after she was killed in an accident at a Utah national park in. We dont know with any level of certainty what her plans were, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nelson said. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax During the trials opening statements in December, Nakajjigo was described as a pearl beyond price with limitless potential, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The amount was far less than the $140 million Nakajjigos family originally sought. But when she met Michaud in June 2019 in Aurora, Colorado, through a dating app, he just saw her as a smart person who loved to laugh. 2023 EHM Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Instead of planning their future together, Michaud is now processing the trauma and grief of Nakajjigos gruesome death and hoping the lawsuit his attorney plans to file will save other families from experiencing what he did. Though the amount was substantially less than pursued, attorneys representing the family of Esther Nakajjigo celebrated the judgement, [] Nakajjigo was a women's rights champion in her home country of Uganda; she founded a nonprofit community health center using her college tuition money, and created two reality TV shows centered around empowering women. The United States will pay more than $10 million in damages over the death of Esther Nakajjigo, a prominent Ugandan human rights activist killed in Arches National Park in 2020 There have been gate accidents across the country, including another one on federal government property in 1980 in which a camper in California was impaled by a U.S. Forest Service road closure gate. The family had initially sought a total of $270 million in damages, before lowering the amount to $140 -- while the government only wanted to pay $3.5 million. I was a couple of inches from dying, but I didnt, and right now I have a mission: Its to make sure what shes done continues.. Attorneys representing the U.S. commended her work, yet noted her most recent job was working at a restaurant making $15 per hour. In his judgement, Jenkins said the government had provided a more reasonable projection of Nakajjigos earnings potential. "The National Park Service has, in fact, known for decades that an unsecured metal pipe gate creates an undetectable hazard and dangerous condition," the claim states, as reported by CBS Denver.. $270 MILLION LAWSUIT Nakajjigo worked on fundraising to open a hospital in an underserved part of Kampala, Ugandas capital, became a philanthropic celebrity and immigrated to the United States for a fellowship at the Boulder, Colorado-based Watson Institute for emerging leaders. By his verdict, Judge Bruce Jenkins has shown the world how the American justice system works to hold its own government accountable and greatly values all lives, including that of Esther Nakajjigo, a remarkable young woman from Uganda, Randi McGinn, the familys attorney said in a statement. Later, his chin trembled as Nelson delivered the government's apology. Mr Michaud and Ms Nakajjigos family have filed a lawsuit in a US court accusing the National Park Service of negligence, Fox 13 reports. As they were leaving the park on June 13, 2020, heavy winds apparently blew the metal entrance gate into the passenger side of the vehicle, striking and killing Nakajjigo. But on Friday, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nelson tried to give Michaud some peace of mind. Ludovic Michaud was driving around the scenic red rock landscapes of Utah's Arches National Park on a windy spring day in 2020 when something unthinkable happened: A metal gate whipped around,. Her dreams were just about to come true, Chang said. Jenkins awarded Michaud $9.5 million; Nakajjigos mother, Christine Namagembe, $700,000; and her father, John Bosco Kateregga, $350,000. The United States will pay family members of a Ugandan human rights activist killed in an accident at Arches National Park more than $10 million in damages, a federal judge ruled Monday. I couldnt work properly for a couple of months. But U.S. Attorney Amanda Berndt said while there's no question that the plaintiffs are entitled to a reward, a proper calculation of Nakajjigo's lost earnings must include the possibility that she might have left the workforce at some point for a variety of reasons. The couple was leaving a park parking lot to get ice cream when a metal traffic control gate swung into the road, piercing the passenger side of the couples rental car and severing Nakajjigos head. By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's. She met Michaud on Tinder in 2019, when she was attending a leadership program in Boulder, Colorado. Instead, Michaud met his wife's family -- who traveled to the States from Uganda -- for the first time just before the trial started. The last thing she said to him was, "Babe, I had the best time of my life." For this work, the United Nations Population Fund gave her the Woman Achiever Award. It impaled their car and decapitated Nakajjigo. Nakajjigo, who was 25, lived with her husband in Denver, where she moved to attend a leadership course on a full scholarship. Nakajjigo, who was 25, lived with her. They wed in a courthouse ceremony in March 2020, three months before her death, and had plans to have a big ceremony in Uganda when it was safe to travel again. On June 13, 2020, Nakajjigo, who was riding in the passenger seat as her husband drove them out of the park, was suddenly decapitated when the triangular, metal gate swung around and sliced into their rental car. The sum they are seeking has not been disclosed, however a previous claim filed by the family against the National Park Service which is the step before a lawsuit can be filed asked for more than $A351 million. Vous pouvez modifier vos choix tout moment en cliquant sur le lien Tableau de bord sur la vie prive prsent sur nos sites et dans nos applications. Esther Nakajjigo was killed at Arches National Park in 2020. There is a lot of small things I miss.. The United States will pay more than $10 million in damages over the death of Esther Nakajjigo, a prominent . Nelson, the governments attorney, has said an appropriate award would be $3.5million (2.9m). Picture: Handout The family of a women's rights activist who was decapitated in an accident on a trip with her new husband has sued the US government agency responsible for the park where she died. She was named Ugandas ambassador for women and girls. The gate narrowly missed Michaud, who was driving. The suit was filed last. The women's rights activist from Uganda was 25 when, during a camping trip to Arches National Park in June 2020, she was beheaded by a metal gate that blew closed in strong winds and sliced through the side of the car she was riding in. Fox13 reports the metal. Ludovic Michaud and his new wife, Esther Nakajjigo, were driving around Arches National Park on a windy spring day in 2020 when a metal gate whipped around, sliced through the passenger door of. US attorneys have said this claim was too speculative to be used as a basis for damages. He was "instantly covered with blood," the complaint says. The tragic accident is now the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit Michaud and Nakajjigo's family are pursuing, in which they argue that the U.S. Park Service was negligent and did not maintain .