The story about the woman suing her 12-year old nephew isn’t what it seems

Earlier this week everyone got wound up about Jennifer Connell, who was reported to be suing her 12-year-old nephew for an enthusiastic hug that broke her wrist at his eighth birthday party. 

She was said to be filing a $127,000 lawsuit against the child.

There were eye rolls at the sheer American-ness of it all and outrage at just how this heartless wench could repay her nephew's love like this. 

Except she's not really suing her nephew and she's not a heartless wench, just a victim of a healthcare system we're really glad we don't have (fistbump for the NHS).

The law firm representing her, Jainchill and Beckert, said she didn't want to sue but her insurance company left her no choice: they were only willing to pay $1 of her medical bills, leaving her with a hefty financial hit for surgery.

They filed the suit knowing that the money would come from her nephew's family's home insurance, not from the kid's piggy bank. But because of a law in Connecticut (where the incident happened), to file a claim she had to take the person responsible for the injury to court. It just happened that he was in primary school.

She didn't do herself any favours by claiming her wrist injury made it difficult to walk up the three flights of stairs to her Upper East Side apartment, and that she had trouble holding her hors d’oeuvres plate at a recent party. Or by saying he was negligent in excitedly jumping into her arms, and a “reasonable eight-year old” would know better.

Connell lost the case anyway, but the real jerks (to use an Americanism) are her insurance company.

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