But when she met Michaud in June 2019 in Aurora, Colorado, through a dating app, he just saw her as a smart person who loved to laugh. 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In court, Michaud described his relationship with Nakajjigo as the best time of his life., It feels lonely, and thats hard. "The show saw an audience of 6.3 million each week, and Nakajjigo was named Uganda's 'Young Personality of the Year,'" the Denver Post reported. For this work, the United Nations Population Fund gave her the Woman Achiever Award. Because neither the U.S. nor Nakajjigo's family disputed the facts of the case, the civil suit focused largely on the amount of damages merited. Esther Nakajjigo (credit: Ludovic Michaud). Nakajjigo's younger brother John, who traveled from Uganda to the U.S. to be at the trial, told KUTV that life without his sister has been extremely tough, but he is grateful for the opportunity to be at the trial and also meet Nakajjigo's husband for the first time. "I turned my head and saw what I wish I didn't see.". For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. "It could have happened to the people in front of us, or behind us," he said. At 17 years old, Nakajjigo used her college tuition money to start a nonprofit community health center, NBC News reported. CANDLE HAS BEEN LIT CANDLES HAVE BEEN LIT, We are reviewing your submission. Michaud, in February, told FOX 13 about the trip to the park. She was best known for a reality show in Uganda that reached millions of viewers. Heres what you need to know about Esther Nakajjigo: Saving Innocence Challenge is a high school reality TV show of urban school girls empowering their rural counterparts to prevail over teenage pregnancy and keep in school. ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah - Trial began Monday, Dec. 5 for the death of Ugandan women's activist Esther Nakajjigo, who died after a gate at Arches National Park swung open and decapitated her.The family is in federal court with a $140million-dollar wrongful lawsuit and personal claim lawsuit against the National Park Service.The U.S. already admitted responsibility for the wrongful death . Nakajjigo was a performer who used her celebrity to improve the status of women and girls in Uganda. On Monday, a federal judge in Utah ruled that the U.S. government must pay her family more than $10 million in damages. She was consistently working to improve the lives of women in Africa and beyond. "I've always wanted to meet him, though not in this way," he said. Its a fear of erasing her, I guess, when you use something that she bought or that she ate or that we did together, he said. The large monetary damages being sought on behalf of Michaud and Nakajjigos parents are a reflection of the suffering they have gone through plus the loss of Nakajjigos future income and fundraising abilities, Chang said. In other words, he added, theres no liability for ordinary negligence. The claim she served is legally required before a lawsuit can be filed in court. As they entered the park on June 13, high winds blew the park entrance gate, a swinging pole, back across the highway. McGinn, representing Nakajjigos family, likened her to a nonprofit CEO for an American charity and said she would have likely made millions throughout her life. She said there was nothing that visually set them apart. After requesting that the family leave the courtroom, she recounted the moment Michaud. Join Outside+ to get Outside magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. Shed come to Colorado to learn how to bolster her business acumen at the Watson Institute in Boulder. Several dozen per day. She earned numerous global awards and traveled to the U.S. to further her education, the newspaper reported. A National Park Service spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday. Denver7 reached out to he National Park Service to ask about the accident. They said you have to lock it or its going to impale a car, so everyone knows, Chang said. Nakajjigo, who was 25 at the time, was "needlessly decapitated," according to a wrongful death administrative claim obtained by NBC News. A video tribute to his wife showed her talking about her name, in an earlier recording. IE 11 is not supported. Attorneys representing the U.S. commended her work, yet noted her most recent job was working at a restaurant making $15 per hour. Nakajjigo and her husband Ludovic Michaud were vacationing in eastern Utah, visiting the region's national parks months after their wedding. Randy Rost was injured when the camper pickup truck in which he was riding was impaled on a piece of gate in the Stanislaus National Forest, California, according to a court document. December 6, 2022 / 9:23 AM Esther Nakajjigo, a Ugandan human rights activist, was killed in Arches National Park in Utah on June 13, 2020. IE 11 is not supported. I didnt know who she was at first, the 26-year-old expressed to NBC News. In his judgement, Jenkins said the government had provided a more reasonable projection of Nakajjigo's earnings potential. The gate was owned by the United States government and anchored on government property., READ NEXT: Famous Rappers Brother Dies From Apparent Suicide, Esther Nakajjigo: Uganda Activist Decapitated in Utah National Park, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Im still struggling with that, Michaud said. Ludovic Michaud and his new wife, Esther Nakajjigo, were driving around Arches National Park on a windy spring day in 2020 when a metal gate whipped around, sliced through the passenger door of. The trial over a wrong death lawsuit of a Ugandan activist has begun. The lawsuit alleges that a simple $8 padlock could have prevented the gate from swinging, and claims the park violated regulations. In opening statements Monday in Salt Lake City, attorneys representing Michaud and Nakajjigo's family said they were seeking $140 million in damages from the government. A family is getting $10 million in the wrongful death of Ugandan human rights activist Esther Nakajjigo, who was decapitated by a swinging metal gate in Arches National Park, Utah. In their legal complaint, Michaud and Nakajjigos parents said the National Park Service was negligent for not maintaining the gate. The claim, served Oct. 22, is seeking more than $270 million in damages from the National Park Service. But on June 13, she and her husband needed a break from quarantine and headed toward Arches National Park in Utah. Our mission is to make sure this doesnt happen again, Michaud said. SALT LAKE CITY The United States will pay family members of a Ugandan human rights activist killed in an accident at Arches National Park more than $10 million in damages, a federal judge ruled Monday. 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wilson Jaga, head of communications for the Office of Ugandas Ambassador for Women and Girls, advocated for her return in a statement obtained by the outlet, writing: We have also petitioned the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda requesting that H. E. Esther Nakajjigos short lived but very instrumental life be celebrated and Essie accorded a State Funeral as a symbol of recognition of small interventions made by young people to make their country a great nation. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. They said claims by the family's lawyers that Nakajjigo, who was 25 at the time of her death, was on track to be a nonprofit CEO shortly were too speculative to be used as a basis for damages. It may take up to 1 hour for your comment to appear on the website. Recreation areas had recently opened after pandemic-era closures and, on the edge of Arches, a metal gate normally secured with a lock was left untethered. Diana Dasrath is entertainment producer and senior reporter for NBC News covering all platforms. On June 13, she was needlessly decapitated by a metal gate that swung into the couples car as they were exiting the Arches parking lot on their way to go get ice cream, according to a wrongful death administrative claim exclusively obtained by NBC News. DENVER (CBS4) - The family of a woman killed while visiting Arches National Park is hoping they can change the dangerous conditions that lead to her death and continue the philanthropy she. Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Esther Nakajjigo, age 25, of Denver, Colorado passed away on Saturday June 13, 2020. It argues that park employees only needed to install the gate with an $8 padlock to prevent it from killing a young woman influencer destined to become our societys future Princess Diana, Philanthropist Melinda Gates, or Oprah Winfrey, NBC News said. At just 17, using her college tuition money, she created a nonprofit community health center. Esther Nakajjigo is a former Uganda activist who was decapitated this summer at the Utah Arches National Park. At just 17, using her college tuition money, she created a nonprofit community health center. The couple was leaving a park parking lot to get ice cream when a metal traffic control gate swung into the road, piercing the passenger side of the couples rental car and severing Nakajjigos head. Denver7's Lance Hernandez reports. I had a ton of flashbacks. She said entrance gates should be locked into place whether they are open or closed. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. It could have happened to anyone and if nothing is done, its going to happen again, he said. How do you measure someone like her? Our mission is to make sure this doesnt happen again, the husband of Esther Nakajjigo told NBC News in an exclusive interview. SALT LAKE CITY A judge awarded $10.2 million to the family and spouse of Esther "Essie" Nakajjigo, who was killed by an unsecured gate at Arches National Park in 2020.. Nakajjigo, 25, a women's rights activist from Uganda, was killed when driving in Arches National Park with Ludovic "Ludo" Michaud during a camping trip on June 13, 2020. Instead, the Utah park became the site of a horrific accident that killed her. Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigo's family, on Monday described the death in gruesome detail. She was very strong personality, really funny, really smart, said Ludovic Michaud, Essie Nakajjigos husband. As the couple was leaving the park, gusts of wind swung the gate around rapidly, enough to slice through the passenger side door of the couples car, decapitating Nakajjigo as her husband sat feet away in the drivers seat. They argued that had employees installed the gate properly and secured it with an $8 padlock, Nakajjigos death could have been prevented, NBC News reported. The wind whipped a metal. Throughout the trial, attorneys debated estimates of Nakajjigo's earnings potential. It feels lonely, and thats hard. Chang has filed a $270 million claim for wrongful death. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. United States attorneys do not dispute that park officials shouldered blame, but argued the amount the family should be awarded is far less and called into questions the ways in which the damages being sought were calculated. Arches National Park is a 120-square-mile desert landscape near Moab, Utah, that is visited by more than 1.5 million people annually. If you have a story idea or tip for the FOX 13 Investigative unit, please share it with us below: Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. The end of the gate impaled the car like a lance, and literally beheaded his newly-wed bride right in front of him.. This photo was taken in the hours before a gate swung into the couple's car, killing Nakajjigo. #EDD #sheiswe pic.twitter.com/VUD1jd7U7H, Esther Nakajjigo (@nakajjigo) June 7, 2018. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The family's lawsuit claims when the national parks reopened in April 2020 after being shuttered due to COVID-19, rangers at the national park in Utah didn't secure the gate in place, which in effect "turned a metal pipe into a spear that went straight through the side of a car, decapitating and killing Esther Nakajjigo.". "Multiple fatalities" in massive pile-up on Illinois highway, Yellen warns U.S. could default on debt as early as June 1. I didnt know who she was at first, Michaud, 26, told NBC News in his first interview since Nakajjigos death. "For want of an $8 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good," the claim said. Nelson, the government's attorney, said an appropriate award would be $3.5 million, far less than the $140 million being pursued.