To be fair, the cone nearly crushed his skull

Oct 13, 2015 22:08 GMT  ·  By

Back in last year's October, Sean Mace of Washington nearly died when, while visiting San Francisco and enjoying the wonders of the local Maritime National Historical Park, he had a pine cone fall from a tree and land on his head. 

This past September, the man decided to seek justice for himself and filed a lawsuit against the US Government. The National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park are also listed as defendants.

That was no ordinary pine cone that hit Sean Mace

The pine cones that we are accustomed to are about the size of a fist and not at all heavy. To cause serious injuries, they'd probably have to be dumped on people from high up in a plane.

The pine cone that nearly killed Sean Mace, however, was no ordinary one, not by a long shot. It came from a coniferous tree native to Australia, i.e. Araucaria bidwillii, and weighed around 16 pounds (7.25 kilograms).

Mind you, Sean Mace actually got lucky. Thus, biologists say there's also Araucaria bidwillii pine cones out there that tip the scale at a jaw-dropping 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and measure up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) in diameter.

Had one such mammoth woody fruit fallen on Sean Mace's head, odds are he wouldn't be around to sue the US government today. Au contraire, it's safe to assume he would've died on the spot.

The man remembers that, on the day the gargantuan pine cone landed on his head and almost crushed his skull then and there, he was minding his own business taking a nap in the public park.

The blow he suffered was so severe he had to be rushed to hospital. Doctors operated on him to deal with bleeding inside his brain. Then, a few days later, he needed yet another surgery. He's since recovered, but not completely.

“It’s like a bowling ball falling from the sky and hitting you on the head. This guy has an irreversible brain injury. He’s in constant fear of getting hit on the head,” the man's lawyer said in an interview, as cited by DM.

The medical experts looking after Sean Mace fear that, soon enough, he might need another brain surgery. Besides, the man says that, ever since the accident, he's been struggling with anxiety and memory loss.

What does the US government have to do with it?

Sean Mace says that, on the day that the pine cone fell on his head and almost killed him, there were no signs put up in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park to warn people that something like this might happen.

Such signs have since been set in place but this doesn't change the fact that, on October 12 of last year, Sean Mace had no idea that he was in danger when he decided to nap under a Araucaria bidwillii tree.

Should a court of law side with him, the man expects to receive at least $5 million (around €4.4 million) in damages. He also wants high officials to make sure such accidents don't ever happen again.