California Woman Paralyzed by Falling Tree Limb Will Get $14.5M

October 4, 2018

San Francisco supervisors have approved a $14.5 million settlement for a woman who was paralyzed from the waist down when she was struck by a heavy tree limb at a park two years ago.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the Board of Supervisors approved the settlement Tuesday.

Emma Zhou was with her two children in the park’s playground when the 100-pound branch toppled on her.

The August 2016 fall fractured her skull and severed her spinal cord.

Zhou sued San Francisco in November 2016, saying the city’s parks department failed to properly maintain the Canary Island pine trees in Washington Square Park.