Bon Jovi Concert Victim's Lawsuit Saga

01/09/09 2:04pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Let this article serve as a warning for people considering either attending or working at a Bon Jovi show. It's not always the blaze of glory you might expect, and the risks can be high.

Edmonton's Dennis Schulz attended the band's concert at Rexall Place on July 12, 2007. Now he's a quadriplegic and, sadly, is probably livin' on a prayer everyday. Life for this poor man is no bed of roses, and he's suing a variety of people for the hardship he's suffered.

While there's no medical proof that being a Bon Jovi fan can cause you to lose the ability to move your limbs, pumping your fist excessively to "Wanted Dead Or Alive" could bring some bad medicine.

Before you start thinking that I'm trying to give Jovi love a bad name, here's what happened on that one wild night where Schulz became the unwitting victim of a tragic accident that allegedly involved rocking, boozing and brawling. Be warned: This ain't a love song.

Schulz was sitting beside his wife in section 222, row 22, seat five in the second row of the upper deck at the Edmonton arena, not far from the stage. Kendra Stasyk and Darryl Allan were behind them, and Brad McCorry and Alisa Rabideau were two rows back.

The above people, concert promoter Panhandle Productions, arena operator Edmonton Northlands, Dominion SportService (the company in charge of serving liquor at the concert) and Edmonton police have all been named in Schulz's lawsuit.

According to the statement of claim (of which no allegations have been proven in court) in Schulz's suit, the lighting was too dark, the music was too loud, people were drunk and security wasn't great.

Schulz alleges that Rabideau was drunk and "rudely, recklessly and repeatedly spilling beverages on spectators seated a row ahead of her." Allan and McCorry began fighting over this, and Allan fell back and landed on Schulz. This snapped the fourth and fifth vertebrae in his neck and left him paralyzed.

While something like this obviously shouldn't have happened in the first place, let's hope that there was no irony involved and that the pushing and shoving didn't take place while Bon Jovi was belting out "Lay Your Hands On Me."

Schulz filed his lawsuit in November 2007 and is seeking $7 million for medical care. His wife is also suing for loss of income and the province of Alberta is trying to recoup health care costs.

Rabideau issued a statement of defence that said she wasn't drunk or disorderly and that Allan started the fracas by throwing a drink in her face.

McCorry's defence statement said he accidentally spilled a drink on Stasyk and apologized, but Allan responded by throwing a drink at Rabideau and then lunging at him. He claimed he "placed his open hand on Allan's chest to ward him off. Allan then went backwards."

Allan's statement said McCorry pushed him without provocation or warning and he "had no opportunity to avoid contact with McCorry or to prevent himself falling."

Stasyk claimed not to have done anything to start or worsen the bickering.

No criminal charges were laid.

If the case goes to trial, it won't be for another year or two, Schulz's lawyer Patrick Phelan said in a Canadian Press article. Schulz has chosen not to talk to reporters.

Schulz apparently can't move from the neck down and can't feed himself or even cough on his own. He "has been advised by his doctors that he will not work at his job as a journeyman machinist again," Phelan wrote in a letter on file in the courthouse. "He will not walk again. Currently, he has no movement in his hands."

Have a nice day.