ICYMI: Leafs player sued for $8 million after horrific accident

He was reportedly “too intoxicated and unable to appreciate the danger.”

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
ICYMI: Leafs player sued for $8 million after horrific accident

Ottawa resident Hana Engel is reportedly seeking damages of $8 million from Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Cody Ceci, formerly of the Ottawa Senators, following a horrific accident at Ceci’s Ottawa residence back in 2018.

Engel received second and third degree burns to roughly 35% of her body, including her neck and face after Ceci’s partner Jamie Thompson accidentally ignited Engel with liquid burning ethanol during a backyard party.

Check out this account of the evening, from a report in the Ottawa Citizen: 

Thompson was trying to refill one of three burners on an outdoor tabletop fireplace around 9 p.m. that night with Engel and other guests seated around the table in Ceci’s back yard in Stittsville.
According to the lawsuit, “without checking to determine if the burner had cooled and/or completely extinguished,” Thompson squirted the ethanol into the burner, causing “flames and ethanol to jet out of the bottle,” which was still in her hands when she “immediately threw the burning bottle in Hana’s direction.
“Hana’s clothing caught fire and she was immediately engulfed in flames.”

Engel is seeking $500,000 for “pain and suffering, loss of amenities and loss of enjoyment of life,” $300,000 damages “for loss of housekeeping and homemaking capacity,” and $6 million for “loss of income, loss of competitive advantage in the marketplace, and loss of economic opportunities.”

 Engell prior to the incident which left her with scarring on 35% of her body:

Engell today:

“Hana has undergone indescribable emotional trauma and personal upheaval” as a result of the incident, her injuries, scars and impairments the lawsuit claims. 

The lawsuit also claims that Ceci and Thompson were “too intoxicated and unable to appreciate the danger … and ought not to have used dangerous or ignitable objects such as the fireplace.”

To date, there has been no appeal or reply from Ceci, Thompson or the manufacturer of the fireplace manufacturer on this matter.