San Francisco man sues: Says skull crushed by giant pine cone

[WorldNews]

A military veteran who said his skull was crushed by a 16-pound (7-kg) pine cone as he rested in the shade of a conifer grove at a San Francisco park has sued the U.S. government, saying employee negligence led to his injuries. Sean Mace was reading and napping beneath the Bunya Pines, also known as false Monkey-Puzzle trees, during a visit to San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park in October 2014, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court. The seed pods dropped by those pines can grow in excess of 10 to 14 inches (25-35 cm) in diameter and weigh more than 30 to 40 pounds (14-18 kg), and park staff who planted the non-indigenous trees decades ago knew there was a high risk of injury to anyone below them, the complaint said Mace, a U.S. Navy veteran, was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital where he had two rounds of surgery for traumatic brain injury.

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