Student Electrocuted While Posing for Photo in Park
A student suffered brain damage after she was electrocuted in a park while posing for a photo with her new Polaroid camera.
21-year-old university student Anastasija Grigorjeva almost died while posing for a photo in St James’ Park in London, U.K. in July.
Anastasija, a physiotherapy student from Latvia, was visiting her sister Snezana who lives in London.
While the sisters were on a walk in St James’ Park, Anastasija stopped to take a photo with her new Polaroid camera. She wanted to pose by a lit-up metal grate in the park for a picture.
But as Anastasija posed for the photo, her foot slipped through the metal grate and she reportedly received an electric shock from a loose wire.
“We had just given my sister a Polaroid camera for her birthday and she wanted to take a photo on the metal grate in the park as it was lit up as it was after dark,” her sister Snezana tells The Telegraph of London.
“I suddenly heard my sister whimper and looked around and she was passed out on the floor — her foot was in the grate.
According to reports, Anastasija suffered a heart attack and collapsed after being electrocuted. She was eventually pulled to safety by Snezana and her boyfriend, before paramedics arrived at the scene and managed to restart her heart. Anastasija was then taken to hospital where she spent three weeks in intensive care.
However, she reportedly suffered a serious brain injury after being electrocuted by the exposed wire inside the grate. Anastasija has also been left with a three-month gap in her memory and has been left with lasting nerve damage in her foot, according to her family.
The UK’s Health and Safety Executive investigated the incident involving Anastasija but no criminal charges were brought.
Snezana is now taking legal action on her sister’s behalf and is seeking compensation from the Royal Parks charity which manages St James’s Park.
“My client was enjoying a holiday visiting her sister when her life was changed forever,” Anastasija’s lawyer Magdalena Knez says in a statement.
“Doctors said she was lucky to have survived the electric shock and her family are understandably angry that this was allowed to happen.
“I would urge the Royal Parks to admit liability in this matter as soon as possible so that my client can move on and start to rebuild her life.”
In a statement, a Royal Parks spokesperson says they are not able to comment on this particular legal case but wanted “to reassure the public that St James’s Park provides a safe environment for all.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
