‘It cut me in half’: Homeless man sues over Royal Connaught billboard that crushed him in 2018

Brennan Spratt remembers the sound of the billboard breaking as he and a friend walked through violent gusts of wind in downtown Hamilton.

They were passing the Royal Connaught - a celebrated heritage restoration project near Gore Park - when the six-metre-tall sign came crashing down that stormy April day in 2018.

Spratt, a homeless man, bore the brunt of it after the billboard advertising the old hotel's multimillion-dollar rebirth as luxury condos snapped from its foundation at Main Street East and Catharine Street South.

It cut me in half. I'm doing all right, but lucky to be living," the 46-year-old recalls, hobbling with a cane in hand through a leafy Beasley Park more than two years later.

But he wants those responsible for the billboard held to account for his serious and lasting injuries.

To that end, he's suing the developers, a sign firm and the city for $3 million in a statement of claim that alleges negligence.

Well, because that sign, it shouldn't have come down."

The blow left him with a traumatic brain injury, ruptured torso muscles, internal bleeding, the loss of his spleen, broken ribs, a crushed abdomen, and pelvis and spinal fractures, the claim notes.

His body is now held together with screws and other metal objects. He can walk, gingerly, but not jog. He needs help getting up if he's sitting down.

In my hips, I would say it hurts the most, and in my back."

With no place of his own before the billboard slammed into him, Spratt had been couch-surfing.

He and a friend were heading to the downtown YMCA for a drink indoors while the icy winds battered the city.

But they didn't make it. Spratt heard the cracking sound, but the rest was a blur.

I woke up with my family around me when I came out of my coma."

Realizing the grim extent of his injuries was surreal," he remembers. They had to open me up all the way down and up and around."

After the hospital, he was placed in a residence in Welland, which was closer to his hometown, Fort Erie, and after that, a rehabilitation centre in St. Catharines.

But then it was back to the streets, which was hell," he recalls, noting a stay with his mom didn't work out.

Spratt, who has struggled with addiction since his early youth, resorted to fentanyl when the pain of his injuries became too much.

I'm clean again now," he says after stopping by a methadone clinic on John Street North in downtown Hamilton.

His return to the city, where he has a younger brother, continues to be marked by homelessness as he tries to recover.

Recently, he spent nights in a sleeping bag outside city hall.

I tied a string from one tree to the other and put a tarp down."

But on Friday, with the temperature dipping, he checked into the Salvation Army.

Lawyer Robert Findlay said Monday parties in the lawsuit are exchanging pleadings and noted no statements of defence have been filed yet.

Ideally, it would be wonderful if there were resources, or an acknowledgement by one of the parties that there was some liability, so that we can put some resources in Brennan's hands."

The lawsuit names the city, Royal Connaught Inc., Grand Connaught Development Group Inc., Toronto Digital Imaging Inc. and a still-to-be-specified John Doe Corporation" as defendants.

They were responsible for the construction, placement, maintenance, repair and safety condition" of the sign, it alleges, adding the accident was a direct result of the negligence" of the defendants.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

So far, only the city has filed a notice of intent to defend itself against the allegations, which Findlay revised in April.

In an emailed response Monday, a city spokesperson only noted the litigation is in the preliminary stages" and that it's mounting a defence.

The other defendants didn't respond to requests for comments.

Shortly after the storm in 2018, the city's chief building official told The Spectator the Royal Connaught sign ended up larger than its building permit had allowed.

Large free-standing signs typically aren't checked again after an initial inspection unless the city fields complaints, Ed Vander Windt said at the time.

But after the sign was toppled in the 100 km/h gusts, staff reviewed the file and found, according to images on Google, that it had grown without a change in permits, he noted.

We were not aware of that," said Vander Windt, adding the larger sign may have picked up more wind than it was designed to carry" when the wood supports snapped at the foundation.

Spratt's mother and brother also seek $150,000 for expenses and loss of income relating to caring for him.

In he meantime, his goals are modest: a decent place to rent using his disability pension, perhaps with a roommate.

Spratt says his son, 18, could then visit from Toronto. He's not very happy with the situation. He wants to be back in my life."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com