A woman in Ireland learned the hard way about how seriously insurance fraud is taken after being denied a $820,000 claim. And her undoing was a Christmas tree throwing contest that she entered and ultimately won, resulting in her picture being published in a major newspaper.
According to the Irish Independent, which also published the photos, Kamila Grabska, 36, claimed to have been in "debilitating pain" as a result of a 2017 car accident. Due to the "constant pain" in her back, neck, and thoracic spine, Grabska said that she was left unable to lift heavy groceries, do chores, or play with her children. On bad days, she said that she was often bedridden.
Claiming that she couldn't work for over five years, Grabska sued her insurance company for past and future loss of earnings, amounting to around $542,000 of her total claim. However, after the judge was presented with the photos of the mother of two competing in the tree-throwing contest, her claim was denied.
In the photo, taken in January 2018, Grabska could be seen "forcefully" tossing the tree. Based on an old lumberjack competition, the competition takes place in the town of Ennis in western Ireland, and the winner is declared of the person who can throw the tree the furthest distance. A second photo shows Grabska smiling while holding a mounted certificate declaring her champion.
I cannot cope with this woman who said she hurt her back so badly in a car accident that she couldn't work for 3 years getting her claim thrown out of court for being caught by winning a Christmas tree throwing competition ???????? pic.twitter.com/o2bM4gtpA4
— Aisling (@brodstanaccount) February 24, 2024
Judge Carmel Stewart, who decided the case, said she dismissed the claim due to the "very graphic picture" of Grabska throwing the Christmas tree being “at odds” with the medical evidence.
When cross-examined, Grabska attempted to explain that she was in pain when she threw the tree, and that she was smiling in the photos because she was trying to "live a normal life." But the judge was decidedly not buying her story.
"It is a very large, natural Christmas tree and it is being thrown by her in a very agile movement," Judge Stewart said. "I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated. On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim."
In addition to the tree-throwing contest, the judge was also presented with video evidence of Grabska playing with her pet Dalmatian in a park last November for over an hour.
