Porter, TX — A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after losing his leg in a tree-trimming accident in Porter, Texas, on Tuesday, July 15, 2014.
Ray Leyva had been hired by Mary Beleele to cut down a dead oak tree in her front yard on Summer Hills Blvd. While Leyva was up in the tree, part of it collapsed, pinning his leg beneath more than 1,000 pounds of wood. Firefighters arriving on the scene worked for half an hour to free him. His leg was amputated at the scene of the accident.
Leyva was taken in critical condition to Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute.
Officials say it’s possible Leyva was cutting the tree at too low a point, causing it to collapse on him.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
What duty of car is owed to those you invite into your house or onto your property? In this case, the woman who owned the property was putting the victim in a potentially dangerous situation, and had an obligation to tell him everything she knew about it, so that he could take every precaution possible. From what’s been reported, it seems as if that’s what happened. If someone had been coming by her house every day for the past month and telling her that the tree was a risk and could collapse anytime, then it would be a different story. Because she — seemingly — told the victim as much information about the tree as she knew, she, most likely, would not be held liable for the accident. This is something that would most likely be considered an act of God — an actual legal defense — that is to say, an occurrence completely outside of human control.
— Grossman Law Offices