Boy hit by TV gets $19 million

chicago -- A jury awarded $19 million Monday to a 13-year-old boy who suffered severe brain injuries when a television fell on his head at school.

A TV bolted to a stand toppled onto the child at St. Genevieve School on Oct. 30, 2003, when the boy, then 9, tugged on it, said Steve Passen, who represented the boy in the lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Chicago.

“It was highly unsteady and unsafe to be around children -- that’s the bottom line,” Passen said. “I think [$19 million] is a fair amount, given the severity of his injuries.”

The boy, who was in the fourth grade, was in a coma for several weeks, and surgeons removed part of his skull. He is now in the eighth grade, but his cognitive abilities are at a third-grade level, his left arm is severely injured and he walks with a limp, Passen said.

The archdiocese said it admitted liability at the trial, which focused on setting a damages amount. “Basically, the archdiocese has been primarily concerned for the future of the young person involved,” spokeswoman Susan Burritt said.