(KRON) -- Elementary school students were skating on an ice rink in Palo Alto for a party organized by their school's PTA, when a mystery adult skater slid out of control. An 8-year-old boy's finger was sliced off by the man's hockey skate blade at Winter Lodge, leaving his hand disfigured, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Attorneys representing the boy's mother, Laylo Rubina, named Barron Park Elementary School PTA, Winter Lodge, and the City of Palo Alto as defendants. The suit accuses event organizers of negligence, the adult skater of reckless conduct, and the city's rink of permitting dangerous conditions.
The man who speed-skated through a rink filled with young children was an experienced skater from Denmark named Tor, the suit states. His last name is unknown. After the accident, he allegedly left the rink without providing a way to contact him and returned to Denmark.
The boy underwent emergency surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford; however, doctors were unable to reattach his right pinky finger.
Attorneys said the incident happened on January 24, when Barron Park Elementary School's PTA organized the "Barron Park 2026 Ice Skating Party" for families and charged $30 per skater. The event was promoted as a "closed, ticketed event for Barron Park students and their families."
"(Tor) skated at high speed among the children on the main ice surface in a manner that other skaters, including children and at least one parent, noticed and recognized as dangerous. Approximately two minutes before Plaintiff was injured, (Tor) nearly collided with another child skating on the same ice surface," the lawsuit writes.
When the 8-year-old boy slipped and fell on the ice, Tor was going too fast to stop, according to attorneys. The man skated over the boy and severed his finger.
Attorneys claim event organizers and rink staff allowed "an unscreened adult stranger, who was not a member of the invited school community" to speed skate on a rink crowded with students.
Since losing his finger, the boy has suffered emotional distress, pain from the amputation, and disfigurement. The lawsuit demands a jury trial.
