St. Edward sued for student fall

A former St. Edward Central Catholic High School student is suing the Elgin school and the Rockford Diocese for injuries she sustained in a fall in 2006.

Alyssa DiGilio and her father, Scott, filed a lawsuit claiming negligence on the part of the school and the diocese for a Nov. 17, 2006 fall she took in a school stairwell when she was 15.

“She turned to talk to a friend, lost her balance and flipped over the handrail adjacent to the stairs and fell to the basement level,” according to the suit, which seeks damages of more than $50,000 and claims the rail was not built to code.

The normal statute of limitations for a personal injury lawsuit is two years.

But the DiGilio’s attorney, Charles Falkenberg, said the suit will stand because Alyssa was a minor when the injury occurred and the suit was filed in less than two years after she turned 18.

Falkenberg said DiGilio, of West Dundee, injured her back, but declined further comment on the suit.

School officials referred media inquiries to the Rockford Diocese.

Beth Lynch, the diocese’s general counsel, said she had not been served with the suit, but it was diocese policy not to comment on litigation.

Both sides are due in court before Judge Kevin Busch on Aug. 18.

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