A heartbroken husband who was left traumatised after his wife was decapitated by a swinging metal gate in front of his eyes is demanding $140 million (£113m) in damages for her death. Ludovic Michaud had been enjoying a camping trip away with Esther Nakajjigo, when she was gruesomely beheaded by a gate in a national park that sliced through the side of their car due to strong winds.
The horrified husband had felt ''something wet'' on his body and turned round to discover his spouse's blood was splattered all over him, the Daily Star reports. The unthinkable tragedy occurred on June 13, 2020, while the couple were exploring Arches National Park in Utah. while they celebrated their one-year anniversary.
Esther, who was an extraordinary activist, had been wearing a T-shirt at the time of her death that read: "Everything hurts and I'm dying" as she playfully mocked her husband's idea to go camping. The well-respected woman was born into severe poverty in Uganda before winning an award from the United Nations at the young age of 17 for working to improve the lives of local girls.
Esther's remarkable achievements continued as she also became a United States Department of State Young African Leader and attended the 2018 European Development Days in Brussels as a European Commission Young Leader. The 25-year-old also went on to create a hugely popular TV show in Uganda before moving to Colorado in the US for work where she met her future husband, Ludovic.
During the horrendous accident, the 26-year-old man was covered in so much of his wife's blood that witnesses thought he was the one that had been injured. Ludovic, who has been left devastated by the incident, paid tribute to his late wife as he described her as ''one in a billion''.
He said that his multi-million claim for damages was justified, as Esther would have gone on to achieve more brilliant things in her life.
The dangerous gate had been left unsecured for a fortnight before the disaster struck despite national park requirements claiming to prevent gates from swinging. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nelson has come forward to say that the demands were too high and reckons a settlement will propose $3.5m (£2.8m) for non-economic damages and $752,000 (£617,000) for economic damages.
The case continues.
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