Madison Arseneault’s life has never been the same since her skull was impaled by a sawed-off golf club in a 2016 accident during a physical education class at Ford Test Track when she was just fifteen years old. The accident left her partially paralyzed, presenting numerous challenges for her and her family, including making renovations to the family home to make it more accessible and accommodating to Madison’s needs.
That is why the local community stepped up in the Arseneault family’s time of need. More than 70 companies and individuals decided to donate time, money and supplies to take care of all the renovations that were needed.
The project, which cost more than $200,000, is set to be finished later this month and it came at no cost to the family. Material and labor costs were taken care of by the companies and tradespeople who did the renovation.
Jim Scott, a local businessman and philanthropist, heard about the accident and decided to take action to help the Arseneault family renovate their home. He contacted everyone he knew and was able to get a group of more than 70 people to help out.
This includes members of the Holy Names Catholic High School football team, who assisted with renovations, including demolition, adding a bedroom on the main floor and building an accessible kitchen.
The renovations will add an additional 800 square feet of accessible space. Once the project is complete, there will be an attached garage with a lift inside to allow Madison to go upstairs. She has not been able to use the steep stairs to get to the second floor. This is why her parents had to move her bed into the living room on the first floor.
The new kitchen has various features to help Madison bake and cook, something she loves to do. This includes pull-down shelves and a blender that pulls out from under the counter.
Lawsuit About the Accident
In 2017, partner Jennifer Bezaire announced the filing of a $20,000,000 lawsuit on behalf of Madison and her family against the City of Windsor, The Greater Essex County District School Board, supervising teachers and the City of Windsor employee who was on site on the day of the accident.
The accident caused a severe brain injury that resulted in impaired vision, chronic pain, cognitive impairment and partial paralysis, Bezaire said.