Wits University Great Hall after its refurbishment. Picture: Wits
A former performing arts student, who sustained devastating injuries after she fell through a skylight at the Wits Theatre during a practical tuition on the roof of the theatre, is due to receive nearly R11.3 million from the University of the Witwatersrand.
The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, in a recent judgment, ordered Wits University to pay a total of R11 289 412 into the trust account of Michela Nordmann’s attorneys. The amount includes compensation in the form of general damages, as well as future and past medical costs.
Nordmann was an 18-year-old student studying towards a BA degree in Dramatic Arts at Wits when she was seriously injured in May 2017 during the course of practical tuition on the roof of the Wits Theatre complex.
She fell through a skylight onto a tiled floor. The details of the accident were not discussed in the judgment as the merits were earlier agreed upon.
The severity of injuries was a common cause between the parties, and with one exception, the witnesses were in agreement that the incident fundamentally changed the course of Nordmann’s life.
The issue of liability was settled in 2022 on the basis that Nordmann was entitled to 80% of her proven or agreed damages. The matter came before the court last month, where expert reports were presented in order for the court to determine how much damages the university should pay.
The court concluded the amounts which included nearly R7.6m for future loss of earnings. She suffered multiple injuries, including multiple pelvic and other fractures.
Nordmann matriculated in 2016 and then enrolled for a bachelor's degree in dramatic arts. It was her intention to have a career as a performing artist. She was potentially well-equipped to work as a performing artist as she was what is known as a “triple threat” – she could act, sing, and dance.
Before the accident the fields of performing arts, teaching and therapy were all open to her. However, she can no longer earn a living in the performing arts. The fields of teaching and drama therapy are still open to her but on a limited basis.
The court was told that even if abundant work were available she would not be able to fully exploit all the opportunities.
“A young person who had not sustained these injuries would have been able to earn a living by combining work as a performing artist (sometimes as an actress, sometimes as a dancer, and then as a singer) by teaching, and by doing therapy. Professionals in the dramatic arts are required to be adaptable and to operate in more than one branch of the profession,” the court noted.
It was said that she suffered great pain and discomfort because of the incident and still does. “She puts on a brave face and the impression she created in the witness box was that she is someone who would rather underestimate her own suffering than exaggerate it,” the court said.
Nordmann has faced considerable challenges head-on. She was bedridden after the incident and had to use a back brace, wheelchair and crutches for mobility after she was able to leave the sickbed and resume her studies.
She has also done everything she could to ameliorate the situation by maintaining physical fitness, swimming, training in a gymnasium, undergoing physiotherapy, and making use of a biokineticist. The court inferred that by her lifestyle Nordmann had alleviated her suffering rather than exacerbating it.
During her school days, she took part in sports and excelled in touch rugby at the provincial level. It was important to her to pay towards our own studies and she worked to pay for her tuition. Before the incident her health was good.
The court noted that the now-married Nordmann’s conduct merited the inference that she would have been a career woman rather than a stay-at-home mother and that she would have continued working before and after the birth of children.
As a result of the incident, she changed her enrolment to a bachelor’s degree in performing and visual arts as the desired field of performing arts was no longer open to her.
Despite this setback, she completed the 2017 academic year successfully and completed her BA degree in performing and visual arts with honours in drama therapy in the envisaged four-year period.
She is now working part-time at a school, because of the accident.
Pretoria News
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