Heartrendering, unusual and ?

[Kip Powick]

One question that comes to mind is....How, or who ascertained the child's disabilities were a direct result of the mother's "her fault" car accident?

EDMONTON - Blind five-year-old Brooklynn Rewega has become the first person in Canada to win an insurance settlement against her mother for injuries before birth.

The child, who has cerebral palsy and frequent seizures, was able to sue her mother for the settlement only after her parents persuaded the Alberta government to pass special legislation.

Doug and Lisa Rewega, from Rainbow Lake in northern Alberta, lobbied for the legislation so they would have money to pay for the special care that Brooklynn will need during her life.

There is no legislation like it in any other province, Rosanna Saccomani, the lawyer who acted for Brooklyn, said Thursday. No one else has sued successfully in such cases.

"This month is the sixth anniversary of the accident," Saccomani said.

"It's always important for my clients, when they have catastrophic accidents like this, that there's some closure," she said. "Especially at Christmas I find it's meaningful for them."

She said this week's settlement averted the need for a one-year wait for a trial.

She praised the Personal Insurance Company of Canada for its "spirit of goodwill" in agreeing to settle. And she credited Justice Minister Ron Stevens for having courage to agree to the legislation.

The terms of the settlement are not public.

The special legislation, which will be available to other children in Brooklynn's circumstances, limits lawsuits to the amount of a mother's personal liability insurance coverage.

Lisa Rewega was pregnant and driving to church Dec. 31, 2000, when she rolled her car and was thrown through the windshield. Brooklynn was born four months later, with her lifelong disabilities.

Lisa was considered to be at fault for the crash. The family was unable to sue her and Personal Insurance because of a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision which prevents children from making claims against their mothers for events that happen before birth.

The ruling left an opening for legislation to let a child sue a mother in cases only where the child is injured as a fetus in a car accident -- not, for example, where the mother is an addict.

The province agreed to two pieces of legislation -- one applying specifically to Brooklynn's case, retroactive to the accident, and a broader act for other children but not retroactive.

"It's a year almost to the day that those two bills were passed," Saccomani said.

She said the timing is particularly important for the Rewegas because of the Christian message of the season. "It's very much a mother-and-child time."

The lawyer said the family finds it hard to talk publicly about the case, so she speaks on their behalf. She released recent photos of Lisa and Brooklyn, from a family Christmas card.

"The mom is so pretty," Saccomani said. "Tell me if Brooklynn is not the most beautiful little girl you've ever seen.

"It's been a very hard journey. I'm just proud of this family," she said.

"They're very optimistic people, and always taking the positive side of things."

A spokesman for Ontario-based Personal Insurance could not be reached for comment. Sandra Corbett, the Edmonton lawyer acting for Personal, said she has instructions "not to disclose the amount of the settlement."