Four years ago, my friend and her husband lost their son in a terrible accident. Now she is fighting for justice. This is her story in her own words:

Our son Blake died because he ingested a fentanyl patch that was not properly disposed of.  After an investigation it is presumed to come from a nursing home he visited 2 days prior to his death.  This nursing home was found to be negligent in their handling of fentanyl patches, we need your help to find closure.

On the morning of November 4, 2011 we found him lifeless in his bed. Just like that, our sweet, rambunctious son, who enjoyed life to the fullest, was gone and we were left with a pain that has yet to subside.

More than 25 children have been exposed to narcotic patches by accident since 1997, and over a third of them have died. In fact, when Blake's story got out, the FDA issued alerts about the dangers of the improper disposal of patches, and state inspectors determined that the facility’s method of patch disposal “created an unsafe environment.” But even with all this evidence against them, we are unable to share in court the impact of finding our son dead. The pain and suffering we have endured won't be shared because of an arbitrary reading of Wisconsin's Bystander Statute -- according to the 4th District Court of Appeals, our emotional distress isn’t valid because we didn’t see our son’s body soon enough after his death. However, there is no defined time limit. Whether a plaintiff witnessed their deceased loved one “soon enough” after his or her death is left completely up to the judge and jury, on a case-by-case basis.  

We are asking state officials to amend the Wisconsin Bystander Statute to include a clear definition of the “legitimate” time limit for observing the scene of a victim’s death or accident, so that the decision is not left to the subjective whims of a judge or jury.

Bystander Statute claims require that: “(1) the injury suffered by the victim must be fatal or severe; (2) the victim and plaintiff must have a close familial relationship; and (3) the plaintiff must have observed an extraordinary event, namely the incident and injury or the scene soon after the incident with the injured victim still at the scene.” We qualified on parts 1 and 2, so the question, in our case, came down to the words “soon after” in part 3, and the court determined that because we found him possibly hours, not minutes, after his death, our suffering is not valid. We found him as soon as we possibly could. I went to wake him that morning only to find him cold and lifeless.

This doesn’t seem right. There should be one standard to ensure that all Wisconsinites can grieve and find justice equally.

No victim's voice should be silenced.  Minutes, hours, or days after a death, the trauma of finding a deceased loved one remains the same. Please join me and my family in asking the State of Wisconsin to fix this legal loophole. Sign our petition.