A hard decision at the game table

[Greenfield]

I have a problem I wish I didn't have to deal with. It involves real world matters of one of my players.

My group is largely older players. About half the group is retired, and to be blunt we're all a bit on the heavy side. Some more than a bit.

One player is a nice lady who has suffered some difficulty with her legs. She's heavy and needs to be helped up when she stands from her chair, and is supposed to be using a walker but doesn't like to.

We play in my garage, where I have a decent setup. It's actually the only place big enough for the game. It's three steps up to get into the house, where the washrooms are. I installed a safety bar years ago for a different player (an amputee), but it's only on one side of the doorway. (The placement of the door makes it impossible to put a second one on the other side.)

When she goes inside, it's a struggle. She leans on furniture that really won't take the weight, and I've been worried for a while. About a month ago she rear-ended someone in her car, totaling it and injuring her knees even further.

We gather to indulge in fantasy, but the hard reality is that if she falls and hurts herself while on my property, her insurance company will sue me and I'll lose my house. It will happen whether she wants to sue me or not. It won't be her decision.

Not expecting answers from anyone on this one, just sort of moaning in public. I have to tell her she can't come to the game any more, and it sucks. I live in a tiny house and it just isn't possible to make it handicapped accessible without significant structural changes.

Sometimes I really hate reality.

 

[Savage Wombat]

That is harsh. We feel your pain.

I take it you don't have anyone else's house as a play option? My group always met at my house because we were the family with kids and it saved on babysitting. But we could play elsewhere if we had to.

 

[delericho]

Wow. That really sucks.

I take it you don't have/can't get insurance that would cover this eventuality?

But, yeah, I'm afraid if the answer is "no" then you will indeed just have to decline to host the game in future. Because it certainly sounds like the risk is just too great to do otherwise.

 

[Jester David]

The only real solution is to talk to her. Let her know your concerns, that the insurance company will sue and you will lose your house (and everyone loses their place to play). It's grossly unfair for her to put you at that kind of risk just because she doesn't like her walker.

If she's a D&D player odds might help. Let's say the chances of her falling are high. Roughly a thousand to one. If she plays every other weekend and gets up to use the washroom twice she makes 52 trips through your house. That's 1000 : 52. Or 1-in-20. (Kinda. Statistics are funky).
So basically, every single year she rolls a d20. If it's a natural one you lose your house.

 

[billd91]

If you don't have it, consider general liability insurance. Or at least talk to the insurance agent who sells you your homeowner's insurance.

Alternatively, find a different venue less hard on her. I'd rather give up a sweet gaming setup for one game than give up the house as a whole.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Wow, that sucks. Through and through. My sympathies!

 

[fjw70]

Definitely talk to your homeowners insurance agent and see what is covered incase of a fall. It might just be her insurance company suing your insurance company. Not an ideal situation but better than losing your house.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm not saying your assessment is wrong, but you might want to talk to an insurance company rep (or local personal injury attorney) of some kind, because the nightmare scenario you describe might not be so certain. If nothing else, the fact that she's supposed to be using a walker and doesn't could greatly reduce or even completely nullify any claim against you.

And that's assuming that a claim against you would even be made.

 

[GameOgre]

Don't do it man!

Just talk to her about it. Tell her your concerns and work out something else. For all you know she would love the chance to host the games over at her house.

Even if she is unable to do so perhaps she could just make sure she goes to the bathroom before she comes over,or if you have long play sessions perhaps she lives close enough to drive home during a mid-break,or to a local restraint?

At this point it seems WAY too early to jump to any conclusions about what to do about this. Talk to her and everyone else,THEN as a group come to a conclusion that works for your guys.

Your concerns are valid but can be gotten around. Right now it's her with this issue but sooner or later others and even yourself will face this same challenge. Also while her current condition makes it more of a worry,ANY of those guys could slip and fall and result in the same ending.

However this doesn't have to be the case. Two years ago my buddy fell at a friends house who didn't have wheelchair friendly accommodations and broke his arm and a rib and when the insurance guys asked him what happened he just took the blame for it and said"I was a idiot and was in a hurry" and that was the end of it.

The thing is......all us gamers are getting older and sooner or later this is a issue all of us will face. One of the reasons we have friends and game buddies is to lean on when those times come.


Don't risk your house but realize that there ARE other solutions and that even if you guys figure something out so she isn't a issue.....there is still a risk.

 

[Greenfield]

We have homeowner's insurance. It's kind of required. But with medical care costing what it does today, I still couldn't afford the risk. We're playing in the garage, technically an "infinished" area, not intended for occupancy. I'm afraid that my insurance would deny the claim because of that.

Oddly, the way legal circles work, any precaution I take to minimize the risk is taken as an admission of liability, proof that I knew the risk was there. If I had her sign a waiver, all it would do would be to prove that I was subjecting her to a known risk. It wouldn't protect me at all.

As for the chance of her falling: It's already happened. We were helping her up the stairs into the house and her knee gave out. She ended up sitting on the stairs, having had a safe landing specifically because we were helping her up, and we ended up helping her down. If two people hadn't been there at that moment... I don't like to think about it.

She lives in an assisted living facility, and one thought I had was to tell her that I needed a statement from her physical therapist that she's okay to get around without a walker or assistance. Sadly I know that that approval will never come. Her mobility has been steadily deteriorating, and the auto accident was the topper.

As for moving the game: First, I'm the only one of our group who has anything like appropriate space. (Listing a garage as "like" appropriate space is probably as good a description as any.) Second, all we'd be doing is shifting my risk to someone else.

I wish I was rich enough to afford a dedicated game space that could accommodate partially disabled players, but I'm not. Short of a surprise lottery win, it's not going to happen.

(And it would be a real surprise, since I don't buy tickets. )