On Aug. 12, 2016, plaintiff Cui Ying “Emma” Zhou, 36, a homemaker, was watching her two daughters play at Washington Square Park, in San Francisco, when a 100-pound branch broke off a 50-foot-tall Canary Island pine and struck her. Zhou sustained to her head. Zhou sued the maintainer of the park, the city and county of San Francisco. An arborist consulting company that had been hired by a neighborhood group to prepare a tree management plan for Washington Square Park in 2007, HortScience Inc., was later added as a defendant. HortScience settled confidentially and was dismissed from the case. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the tree had large heavy branches that overhung the playground area and was part of a group of trees that had dropped branches onto the playground in the past. Counsel asserted that San Francisco’s failure to properly maintain the trees in the park created a dangerous condition. San Francisco’s counsel contended that the subject tree was assessed in 2008 and 2010, and was considered to be in good condition. Counsel also contended that HortScience pruned and up-limbed the trees around the park’s playground in 2014., Zhou suffered blunt force trauma to her head and spine. She sustained a fractured skull, resulting in brain damage, and a fractured spine, which severed the spinal cord. Zhou was rendered unconscious and bleeding from the head in front of her two minor daughters, who were 5 and 9 years old at the time of the accident. She was immediately taken to a hospital, where she was determined to be paralyzed below the waist. Zhou underwent emergency spinal surgery at the hospital, but doctors were unable to restore neurological function below the waist. Zhou claimed that she is not expected to walk again and that her paraplegia is permanent. She alleged that the accident has caused considerable hardship for the family and that she will need help caring for herself and her family for the rest of their lives. Zhou sought recovery of medical costs, loss of earning capacity, attendant care, loss of household services, and damages for her past and future pain and suffering. Her husband, Jian Cong Tan, sought recovery of his loss of society, companionship and consortium. The couple’s two minor daughters, Angelina Tan and Arosia Tan, claimed that they suffered from emotional distress as a result of witnessing their mother being struck by the large branch. They each sought recovery of medical costs and non-economic damages for their emotional pain and suffering.