August 19, 2022 • 10 hours ago • 3 minutes read • 16 comments Alexandra Stemp, 8, died after being struck on November 30, 2021, by a vehicle that jumped the curb and hit a group of Brownies accompanied by a woman and a female teenager walking along Riverside Drive in London. (photo submitted by family)

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Family members of a group of girl drivers who were hit by a vehicle while walking on a sidewalk in west London have launched lawsuits against the driver and her husband totaling more than $15 million.

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Six families, including relatives of an eight-year-old girl killed in the November 30, 2021 crash, filed separate lawsuits this week against Petronella McNorgan, 77, her husband Gerald McNorgan and four insurance companies. Petronella McNorgan is charged with one count of criminal negligence causing death and seven counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in the crash that killed Alexandra Stemp and injured nine others, including seven children, a teenager and an adult. Petronella McNorgan was driving her 2017 Honda Odyssey van west on Riverside Drive in a “dangerous, careless and reckless manner with disregard for the safety of others” and “violently struck” pedestrians, according to the statements of claim.

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Petronella McNorgan was speeding, ran a red light, struck another vehicle and failed to “take reasonable or any precautionary measures to avoid a collision with the group,” the lawsuits allege. The group of 120 London Brownies – nine children, two teenagers and two adults – were on their way to the cancer survivor park on the corner of Riverside Drive and Wonderland Road. They were walking east on the north side of Riverside Drive when McNorgan’s vehicle struck a tree and a light pole before colliding with them around 6:45 p.m., according to the lawsuits. “The Brownies were traveling in a careful and prudent manner, two by two, with one adult at the front of the group and another adult at the rear of the group,” one of the claims states.

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Statements of claim and statements of defense contain allegations that have not been proven in court. None of the defendants filed statements of defense. The lawsuits describe the frantic moments after the crash when parents of some of the injured children arrived at the scene, where they “witnessed distraught survivors and distressed first responders,” the family of two injured children, ages four and eight, said in the lawsuit. to the claims of the crash. Alexandra Stepp’s parents and brother also arrived at the scene of the accident and told them to go to the hospital as quickly as possible, according to the lawsuit filed by the dead girl’s family. The family was not informed of Stemp’s condition when they arrived at the hospital, where a social worker accompanied them to the trauma center and they saw Stemp being wheeled away on a stretcher while “emergency maneuvers were performed,” the family’s lawsuit alleges.

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The injured children, ages four, five, eight, seven and 15, suffered a range of serious injuries, including broken and fractured bones, brain and concussion injuries and damaged ligaments, the lawsuits allege. The children and their parents also suffered psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, sleep disorders, depression and mood disorders, the lawsuits allege. The injured children will need ongoing medical and psychological care, and their future ability to study and work has been compromised, resulting in lost future income, the lawsuits allege. The families of the injured children have suffered significant expenses and lost income, the lawsuits allege.

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The lawsuits allege that Gerald McNorgan, the co-owner of the vehicle that hit the group, is also negligent for allowing his wife to drive when he knew, or should have known, that she was an “incompetent driver, lacking reasonable skill, ability, training and self-governance’ in driving. Six attorneys from the Lerners law firm are representing the families. “The extent of the impact of this incident on the lives of our customers is far-reaching. A child was killed. Other children and adults have suffered serious physical and emotional injuries,” the law firm said in a statement released Friday. Petronella McNorgan’s case returns to court on October 5. [email protected]

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