Mother asks neighbor to pay her son’s medical bills after he fell into her koi pond

The phrase “kids will be kids” is used quite often to excuse the actions of young people who simply don’t know any better. A mother often used this excuse to justify her son’s actions.

Even after he fell and damaged their neighbor’s expensive koi pond, she still insisted he did nothing wrong.

A man’s beloved koi pond was almost destroyed by his eight-year-old neighbor.

A man took to Reddit to share the story of his precious koi pond and how it was damaged by his eight-year-old neighbor.

“I have…a koi pond in my backyard,” he explained. “This isn’t just any koi pond – it’s a full-fledged, professionally designed Japanese garden, complete with a bridge, waterfalls and koi that cost more than my car (I’m talking of $1,000 for a single fish).”

Lindsay Guido | CanvaPro

The neighbor told the mother several times that her son had entered her yard without permission.

“Maintaining this pond is my pride and joy,” he continued. “I have devoted years to this hobby and my yard is well fenced with “No Trespassing” signs everywhere.”

“Enter my neighbor, ‘Karen’ (fake name, but appropriate),” he said. “Karen has a son, let’s call him Timmy… who is known to wander into other people’s yards uninvited. I’ve talked to Karen about this several times, but she just brushes it off by saying, “Kids will be kids.”

Even though “kids will be kids,” Karen should have kept a closer eye on her son.

“Last week, while I was running errands, I received a frantic call from Karen,” he explained. “Apparently Timmy climbed my fence to “feed the fish” (even though I explicitly told him to stay out). In doing so, he slipped, fell into the pond and destroyed part of my carefully tended ecosystem.

He went on to say: “Several of my precious koi died from stress and the filtration system was damaged from debris thrown by Timmy.”

Even though the boy did not suffer serious injuries, his mother still insisted that her neighbor pay his medical bills.

“Luckily, Timmy wasn’t seriously injured – just a few scratches – but Karen demanded that I pay his medical bills,” the neighbor said. “She claims my pond is an ‘attractive nuisance’ and that I should have had a cover or something to stop the children from falling in.”

This seems like an odd statement, given that the koi pond was located in the man’s private yard, and he told Karen so.

“I argued that, on the one hand, this is private, fenced property and, on the other hand, his son had no reason to be there in the first place,” he said. he declared.

Amar Préciado | Pixels

Karen is now trying to destroy her reputation.

“When I refused to pay, Karen lost her mind and started badmouthing me all over the neighborhood, calling me ‘heartless’ and a ‘terrible person’,” he said.

This neighbor, on the other hand, does not accept this situation in a lenient way.

He said: “I have since taken legal action against her for the cost of the koi, damage to my filtration system and repairs to my pond – over $5,000 in total. »

This neighbor has every right to file a complaint.

Although Timmy is only a child, he is old enough to know the difference between right and wrong and to understand that he should not wander into his neighbor’s yard.

It also seems a little odd that Karen asked their neighbor to pay Timmy’s medical bills if he wasn’t seriously injured and she really escaped with “just a few scratches.”

Pavla | Shutterstock

Regardless, the neighbor has the right to sue Karen for the cost of the damage to the pond.

According to attorney Larry A. Tawwater, “If your neighbor has caused costly damage to your property and is not cooperating in making necessary repairs, you may have the right to sue your neighbor to obtain compensation for the damage caused to your property. »

Based on this information, it would be entirely reasonable for the neighbor to sue Karen. And really, she should be held accountable for what her son did.

Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a BA in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle and human interest topics.