A nine-year-old boy from Canada has taken legal action against an 11-year-old peer after a toy dinosaur play session at daycare resulted in his finger being nearly severed.

The lawsuit emerged from an incident that occurred on August 9, 2022, around 11 a.m., during a summer program in Alberta. The specific location has not been disclosed.

At the time, Elijah Dominic Robinson, now 13, was nine years old. His playmate, Xavier Fellin, was 11, though his current age remains unspecified.

While the two were engaged with a toy dinosaur, approximately the size of a 500ml water bottle, a disagreement over the toy ensued.

Amid the altercation, Xavier is accused of using the dinosaur to ‘strike’ Elijah, leading to a ‘serious dislocation fracture’ of Elijah’s ring finger.

Judge Brian Robert Hougestol of the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie characterized the case as ‘quite rare’ in his written judgment.

He said the suit raised ‘numerous legal issues related to capacity,’ including consent and the voluntary assumption of risk.

The toy dinosaur at the center of the civil suit was described as being about the size of a 500ml water bottle (File photo of a boy playing with dinosaur toys)

Elijah suffered a ‘serious dislocation fracture’ to his ring finger when Xavier allegedly used the toy dinosaur to ‘strike at’ him (File photo of a ring finger injury)

The case was heard last month, and a judgment dismissing the lawsuit was issued last Friday. 

Each child had a litigation representative in the case, although the suit was effectively between the two minors.

Elijah was represented by Nsamba Mamisa Robinson, while Courtney and Josh Fellin filled that role for Xavier.

One minor suing another is highly uncommon, but it is technically possible in Canada.

Individuals under the age of 18 cannot sue on their own, but they are able to bring a claim forward if they are represented by an adult in their litigation.

The representatives’ exact relationship to the children was not described.

According to the lawsuit, the clash over the toy dinosaur resulted in a grave fracture to Elijah’s digit.

‘The finger was essentially severed at the bone but still attached,’ Judge Hougestol wrote. ‘The injury required surgery or the finger would apparently have been lost.’

However, no hospital or doctor’s records were ever produced to attest to the severity of the injury.

Judge Brian Robert Hougestol of the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie called the civil lawsuit ‘quite rare’

Elijah was also unable to provide detailed descriptions of the incident during the legal battle.

‘He was trying to recall an incident from over 3 years previous when he was much younger,’ the judge wrote.

A video of the dispute was apparently taken at the time, but no one secured the footage, so it was not used as evidence in the unusual trial.

Xavier did not testify as part of the civil suit, but his mother did. 

The older boy’s parents were included as co–defendants, though the judge also ruled they had not done anything wrong.

They had not provided their son with a dangerous weapon or encouraged him to be violent, Hougestol wrote.

Elijah’s mother, the judge said, ‘seemed fixated’ on how Xavier’s parents had allegedly shown a ‘lack of attention or contact’ after her son’s injury.

While offering to ‘help out’ might have been ‘polite and courteous,’ the judge noted, there was no actual legal obligation to do so.

The spat which led to Elijah’s finger injury happened on August 9, 2022, around 11am at a summer program in Alberta

The daycare program, which was described as run by a non–governmental organization that had since shuttered, also failed to share more information regarding the boys’ tiff.

This was because of ‘privacy or perhaps for liability reasons,’ the judge wrote.

Hougestol determined that the scuffle had resulted in an ‘unfortunate “fluke” injury that could not easily have been anticipated.’

He said he did not believe Xavier had intentionally assaulted Elijah. The two boys did not know each other well, according to the judge.

‘It was a highly accidental fluke from children engaging in typical enough child activities,’ he said.

Hougestol added: ‘Reasonable people expect the possibility of children having minor disagreements and minor altercations.’

The damages sought were C$10,000 (about $7,200 in the US), as well as out–of–pocket expenses, but that was considered irrelevant now.

‘Fortunately the injured finger is well–healed and causes [Elijah] little to no ongoing difficulties,’ Hougestol said in his judgment.