by WES FERGUSON
A slide into second base that left a Buda boy needing costly surgery has now landed the city of Buda in a legal dispute with the boy’s parents.
Adrian J. Gonzalez was an 11-year-old baseball player for the Hays Hurricanes when he injured himself during a practice at the Buda Sportsplex on April 16, 2009.
The boy slid into a base that did not have a base bag. Instead, he hit an exposed base anchor that gashed his right leg just below the knee, requiring emergency surgery and extended ward care, according to his attorney Shawn Martin.
“He’s going to be left scarred for the rest of his life,” Martin said. “It was a very, very bad injury.”
Photos of the injury included in court filings show a long laceration held tight by numerous staples. Martin said Adrian’s medical expenses have exceeded $65,000. The boy’s parents, Carlos and Nora Gonzalez, filed the lawsuit against the city of Buda in a Hays County district court in April.
“We have filed a lawsuit because attempts to reconcile the claim with the city of Buda were unsuccessful,” Martin said.
The lawsuit argues the city should have covered the exposed base anchor with a protective cap, which would have prevented the boy’s injury. The city has denied the allegations and is claiming sovereign immunity.
The Buda Sportsplex had opened only a month before Adrian’s injury. The complex, near the corner of FM 967 and FM 1626, features 52 acres of open parkland, trails, a playground, four baseball and softball fields and four recreational fields.
