Disabled teen's kin sue over crash

OREM — The parents of an Orem teenager who was severely injured in a car accident in 2005 have filed a lawsuit against the 16-year-old boy who was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.

In the 4th District Court lawsuit, which also names as defendants the boy's parents and the owner of the road on which the accident occurred, Tori Schmanski's parents allege that Russell Nielson shouldn't have been driving and that a careless "trick" caused the accident that led to their daughter's life-changing condition.

Schmanski was trapped underwater for nearly 20 minutes on June 19, 2005, when the car she was riding in spun off the road and landed upside down in a canal near Delta.

"As a result of the accident ... Tori has suffered severe brain and other injuries and she will require constant care for the remainder of her life," according to the lawsuit.

The Schmanskis are in Hangzhouan, China, where they are trying a 32-day stem-cell treatment at the Beike Biotechnology Clinic in an attempt to help Tori regain some of what she lost as a result of the accident.

Tori, once an accomplished dancer, can no longer speak or move her limbs.

According to the lawsuit, Nielson hadn't had his driver's license long enough to be driving with other teens as passengers. It also asks the court to hold Nielson's parents, Michael and Tina Nielson, financially liable for letting him take the wheel.

"We certainly delayed bringing the case with the hope that we could work something out," said Alan Bradshaw, attorney for the Schmanski family. "We just haven't been able to get anything done."

The motivation behind the lawsuit is financial stress, Bradshaw said. Tori Schmanski's medical bills and future medical expenses likely will reach $1 million, according to the lawsuit.

An exact dollar amount is not listed in the lawsuit, but Bradshaw said the costs of taking care of Tori, now 16, for the rest of her life are "staggering."

A representative of Ivie and Young, the law firm of the Nielson family's attorney, said attorneys there would not comment on the pending case, per policy of the firm.

South of Delta, there's a side road east of 2500 West near the Gunnison Bend Reservoir. On that road, Russell Nielson tried the "two-headed cow trick," according to the lawsuit. To do the trick, a driver of a vehicle goes down the steep side road, which drops quickly, then rises quickly to rejoin 2500 West.