Women injured by falling tree are suing tree’s owner
By Paul Burton
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ORANGE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Two sisters and their friend were injured in a horrifying tree collapse in Orange back in August. Now, they are speaking about the ordeal for the first time.
Brittany and Danyelle Bushee and their friend, Melissa Chiasson, of Athol, were severely injured in August when, they say, their neighbor’s tree, which was rotted, fell down on all three of them as they stood in the Bushee’s driveway.
“It’s really a miracle that all of us made it through alive, breathing,” Brittany Bushee said.
All three women were unconscious when paramedics arrived. Now, all three victims say they are suing the homeowner, claiming that he failed to maintain the property.
“I have a broken back, a broken neck; I’m probably going to have surgery, they said, in January. I had a traumatic brain bleed,” Danyelle Bushee said.
“I had staples in my head, fractured right skill, and I have hearing issues from that,” said Brittany Bushee.
“Very, very simple fix to this. Calling someone and removing rotting and decaying trees could’ve prevented all of this. Unfortunately now, our clients are left to deal with the circumstances,” their attorney Michael Kelly said.
The property owner did not respond to calls for comment.
The Bushee sisters, who both worked in the healthcare industry, said their lives have been changed forever.
“It’s sad. I wanted to continue my career and maybe be a nurse and go to school, but with the memory and everything going on with that, I feel like that’s going to be kind of impossible,” Brittany Bushee said.
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