HUNTINGTON, NY -- The family of a high school senior who drowned at the Huntington (NY) YMCA last winter has filed a lawsuit and is seeking $10 million in damages, according to Newsday.
The YMCA of Long Island (NY), which oversees the Huntington facility, was named as one of the defendants in a summons and complaint filed Sept. 11 in New York State Supreme Court, according to the newspaper. The other defendants named are two teenaged lifeguards who were on duty at the time of the drowning as well as another lifeguard and the aquatics coordinator who were on the premises at the time of the accident.
Marc Dawson, a lifeguard at the Huntington Y, drowned in a 4-foot deep lap pool as he practiced holding his breath for SEAL training, the newspaper reports. He died a week after the Feb. 18 accident.
The complaint alleges the defendants were “reckless, careless, and negligent in the ownership, operation, management, maintenance, control, life guarding and supervision of the subject premises,” Newsday reports
“What the family wants is justice,” Michael Perrotta, the lawyer representing the Dawson family, tells the newspaper. “They want the Y to be held responsible for the death of their son.”