TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Aubrey Stewart was paralyzed in 2011 when a huge rotted branch broke off a tree on city property and crushed him.
The Jacksonville City Council urged Gov. Rick Scott and Florida lawmakers to pass a claims bill that would authorize the state to pay Stewart and his family $3 million for the 15-year-old's injuries.
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The state Senate approved the measure Tuesday and all that is left is for Gov. Scott to sign it.
Bill sponsor Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said the city had received multiple complaints about the condition of trees but did not take action before Stewart was injured.
The city originally agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with Stewart's family, but the state's sovereign-immunity laws placed a $200,000 limit on what could be paid. That led to Bradley filing what is known as a "claim" bill that directed the state to pay the remaining balance.
"These are people of very modest means,'' Bradley said of the family. "This will not make them rich."
"He still wants to play. He still wishes he could run and walk. We still trust in God that one day, even though the doctor says it won't happen, we still trust it will," Aubrey Stewart's mother said.