When Sarah Goodman was at a friend’s wedding, the mom of four heard a loud bang. It turns out that her 5-year-old son had been playing with a statue at the venue and it came crashing down next to him. Luckily for Goodman, her child wasn't seriously harmed during the accident but the same can't be said for the expensive piece of artwork. After the incident first went down at Tomahawk Ridge Community Center on May 19, the mom from Kansas was shocked to learn that an apology wouldn't cut it. She's since learned that her kiddo's mistake could cost her a whopping $132,000 — but this pissed parent doesn't want to pay.
The unfortunate incident was caught on security camera and has gone viral.
In the weeks following the incident, Goodman received a letter from the local community center’s insurance company seeking to recover damages for the piece of art. It allegedly stated that the artwork was valued at over $100,000 and that her family is responsible for the payment. Goodman was flabbergasted and is now speaking out against the insurance company and community center.
“It’s clear accidents happen and this was an accident,” Goodman told the Kansas City Star. “I don’t want to diminish the value of their art. But I can’t pay for that.”
According to Goodman, she, her husband, and children were preparing to leave the wedding reception when one of her kiddos started playing with the statue around the corner. “Our kids were well-supervised and well-behaved. We were just standing down the hallway following the bride and groom out,” she said.
The now viral footage shows her child, Troy, going up to the statue on more than one occasion before it toppled over. “He probably hugged it. Maybe my son hugged a torso because he’s a loving, sweet, nice boy who just graduated from preschool,” she said. “It needed to be cemented…They obviously didn’t secure it safely.”
Now, Goodman is slamming the center for not "safely" displaying the pricey artwork and thinks they need to pay up.
"It’s in the main walkway, not a separate room, not Plexiglas, not protected, not held down," Goodman told KOTA.
The piece of art, entitled Aphrodite di Kansas City, was on loan to the city. According to its artist, Bill Lyons, it took a few years to create the sculpture made of small pieces of glass and unfortunately, it can't be repaired. "I want to be reimbursed for the amount of time that I spent on it and for what I think it is worth," he said.
But Goodman is placing blame on the community center and said that nobody even seemed to care whether or not Troy was okay after he was scraped from their mistake. "That type of artwork had absolutely no business being in that community center," she told KMBC. "I cannot believe they allowed something so dangerous to be where kids play."
As of now, the family is reportedly leaving the matter up to her insurance company to dispute.
For many there's no doubt in this situation: it's the kid and his parents' fault.
Because mom was downright negligent letting him run around like that
But others feel strongly that the museum deserves the full blame.
They think that the museum should just be grateful that Troy didn't get seriously hurt instead of trying to bill mom.
However, many can see both sides and reminding others that accidents happen...even very expensive ones.
