SEATTLE — An ultramarathon athlete has been awarded $13.1 million in damages after suing over an injury she sustained in 2021 due to a poorly maintained sidewalk in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood. Lesley Mettler Auld, 53, experienced a fall that profoundly impacted her physical abilities and effectively ended her running career, her attorneys reported.
The decision, delivered by a King County jury, assigns joint financial responsibility to both the city of Seattle and the owners of the nearby apartment building. According to legal documents, the sidewalk where Mettler Auld fell had been waterlogged and prone to algal growth, conditions that persisted long enough to become well-known hazards among local residents.
Mettler Auld’s life, previously defined by endurance races exceeding standard marathon lengths of 26.2 miles, took a drastic turn post-accident. The athlete, who is also a professional fitness coach, suffered severe damage to her quadriceps that necessitated several surgeries and ongoing physical limitations.
She detailed her struggles with day-to-day mobility, confiding that ascending stairs in her home requires her to crawl on her hands and knees, a testament to the severity of her injuries.
Legal representatives for Mettler Auld aired grievances in court, portraying this section of sidewalk as negligently overlooked despite its dangers being known. During the trial, other local residents corroborated the claim, sharing their own accounts of falls in the same area.
The city of Seattle, implicated in the negligence verdict, has yet to respond publicly to the jury’s decision. Efforts to reach representatives from the city attorney’s office were met without comment.
The hefty compensation awarded reflects both the grave physical injuries and the profound personal and professional impacts on Mettler Auld, who can no longer partake in the ultramarathons that once defined her lifestyle and career. This case has raised questions about pedestrian safety and the accountability of city and property management in maintaining public walkways.
Such accidents underscore the potential repercussions of infrastructural neglect and may serve as a wake-up call for necessary preventative measures, ensuring the safety of pedestrians against similar risks in the future.