Over a decade after their mother died in a tragic pedalo accident on the Barragem da Bravura, the three children of German artist Suzanne Hay will be receiving €189,000 in compensation.
The award has been decided by the Supreme Court of Justice and ordered to be paid partly by the holiday complex where the family were staying – Quinta Beira do Lago – and partly by the owner of the pedalo.
Mrs Hay drowned after the pedalo she had taken onto the dam with her son and nephew started to capsize.
The story was all the more poignant as the dead woman is understood to have done everything she could to save the children – who both made it successfully to the shore – before she drowned.
Press reports at the time suggested she may have been knocked unconscious in the panic.
But now, after so many years, a court has decided that the accident should never have happened.
The pedalo floats were apparently not properly secured and as a result, one of them started filling with water.
The court is understood to have laid the blame with the complex where Mrs Hay and her family were staying – which advertised the use of pedaloes on their bookings website – as well as the owner of the pedalo.
As we went to press, the Resident had been unable to talk to any of the business people involved.
