An Alaska musher who previously won the Iditarod race is suing the maker of a knife, alleging he would have won the dogsled race this year but for his injury.
The man nearly severed his index finger when he was using the knife to cut the tie on a bale of hay. The digit was reattached but doesn’t function properly. The suit alleges negligence on the part of the knife maker because the release button is near the gut hook, which caused the full blade to accidently open. The man had to drop out of the race.
“He was doing pretty well. He may well have won the Iditarod,” said his attorney. “But our claim for that year was that he wasn’t able to finish.”
But the defendant “bears the burden of proving all of his damages, including his claim that but for cutting his finger, he would have won the [2011] Iditarod,” one defense attorney said. “There is a wide gulf between hoping you will win, even thinking you might win, and actually winning the race.”
Kyle Hopkins, “Iditarod champ claims lost winnings over injury to finger,” Anchorage Daily News, May 11, 2012 h/t overlawyered
Maureen Martin, a former legal fellow at The Heartland Institute, passed away on February 5, 2013.
