A former performing arts student, who sustained devastating injuries after she fell through a skylight at the Wits Theatre during a practical tuition on the roof of the theatre, is due to receive nearly R11.3 million from the University of the Witwatersrand.
The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, in a recent judgment, ordered Wits University pay R11 289 412 into the trust account of Michela Nordmann’s attorneys as compensation for general damages, and future and past medical costs.
Nordmann was an 18-year-old student studying towards a BA degree in Dramatic Arts at Wits when she was seriously injured in May 2017 during the course of practical tuition on the roof of the Wits Theatre complex.
She fell through a skylight on to a tiled floor. The details of the accident were not discussed in the judgment as the merits were earlier agreed upon.
The severity of injuries were common cause between the parties; the witnesses agreed that the incident fundamentally changed the course of Nordmann’s life.
The issue of liability was settled in 2022 on the basis that Nordmann was entitled to 80% of her proven or agreed damages. Last month expert reports were presented for the court to determine the amount of damages.
The amount included nearly R7.6 million for future loss of earnings. She suffered multiple injuries, including multiple pelvic and other fractures.
Nordmann matriculated in 2016 and enrolled for a Bachelors degree in dramatic arts. It was her intention to have a career as a performing artist; she was what is known as a “triple threat” – she could act, sing, and dance.
However, she can no longer earn a living in the performing arts. “A young person who had not sustained these injuries would have been able to earn a living as a performing artist (sometimes as an actress, sometimes a dancer or a singer) by teaching, and by doing therapy,” the court noted.
It was said that she suffered great pain and discomfort because of the incident and still does.
“She puts on a brave face ... she is someone who would rather underestimate her own suffering than exaggerate it,” the court said.
Nordmann was bedridden after the incident and had to use a back-brace, wheelchair and crutches for mobility.
She has also done everything she could to maintain physical fitness, swimming, training in a gymnasium, undergoing physiotherapy, and making use of a biokineticist.
During her school days she took part in sport and excelled in touch rugby at provincial level. She worked to pay for her tuition. Before the incident her health was good.
The court noted that the now married Nordmann’s conduct merited the inference that she would have been a career woman rather than a stay-at-home mother. As a result of the incident she changed her enrolment to that of a Bachelors degree in performing and visual arts as the desired field of performing artist was no longer open to her. Despite this setback, she completed her BA degree in performing and visual arts with an honour’s in drama therapy. She is now working part-time at a school, because of the accident.
Cape Times