subject: Straight Talk Law: Wrongful Death In Sedona? [print this page] Personal Injury Attorneys May Be Hired After Sweat Lodge Tragedy
If youve ever been to Sedona, Arizona, you are aware of the mystical energy that supposedly is part of the area. Many gurus and self-help leaders lead movements there to try to tap into that energy. But one such guru may have stepped over the line during a recent weekend retreat, which may result in three possible wrongful death and eighteen personal injury cases.
James Arthur Ray, whose website promotes spiritual and financial growth, refers to himself as a Personal Success Strategist and Visionary. He held a five-day Spiritual Warrior Retreat at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona on the weekend of October 9th. Participants paid from $9000 to $10,000 to attend the retreat.
The potential wrongful death and personal injury cases occurred in whats called a sweat lodge. Sweat lodges are used by several Native American tribes for spiritual and physical cleansing they are small dome-like structures constructed from willow branches that are tied together and covered in canvas. Rocks that are heated in a fire pit are put inside the lodge, and then steam is created by having water poured over the rocks.
Between 55 and 65 people were in the sweat lodge for an extended period of time, with heated rocks being brought in at regular intervals, when 38 year-old Kirby Brown from New York and 40 year-old James Shore from Milwaukee suddenly collapsed and had no pulse. Nineteen others were hospitalized with some type of personal injury, including kidney damage, and about two weeks later, one of those who fell ill died from multiple organ failure.
What points to the possibility of this tragedy creating wrongful death and personal injury cases are comments like these from Joseph Bruchac, who wrote "The Native American Sweat Lodge: History and Legends." Bruchac termed the incident "appalling."
"If you put people in a restrictive, airtight structure, you are going to use up all oxygen," he commented to the Associated Press. "And if you're doing a sweat, you're going to use it up that much faster."
Bruchac also went on to say that a sweat lodge typically only holds around 12 people. They are usually also covered with natural materials, such as cotton or wool, which wasnt the case with the sweat lodge used by James Arthur Ray and his followers.
Clearly, because of the number of people who either died or needed medical treatment, there are many questions surrounding the incident. The Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh has his detectives investigating the case to see if criminal negligence played a part in what happened. If so, its certainly a strong possibility that both the injured parties, as well as the victims surviving families, would contact wrongful death and personal injury lawyers to gain some restitution from the tragedy.
This is certainly an out-of-the-ordinary incident, but everyone should be aware that if wrongful death or personal injury results from any kind of negligence or harmful circumstances that are not solely of the victims making, then an attorney should be consulted to find out their rights in the matter.
