Abruzzo v. The City of Park Ridge

              SIXTH DIVISION
June 22, 2007
No. 1-06-2116
JO ANN ABRUZZO, Independent Administrator )
of the Estate of Joseph Furio, Deceased, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Cook County, Illinois.
v. )
) No. 05 L 11789
THE CITY OF PARK RIDGE, a Municipal )
Corporation, ) Honorable
) Kathy M. Flanagan
Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding.
)
)
JUSTICE JOSEPH GORDON delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiff, Jo Ann Abruzzo, brought suit against defendant, the City of Park Ridge,
alleging that the city's emergency medical technicians (EMTs) failed to provided emergency
medical care to her minor son, Joseph Furio, and that, as a result, Joseph later died. Park Ridge
brought a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-619(a)(9) of the Code of Civil Procedure (735
ILCS 5/2-619(a)(9) (West 2004)), asserting that the Local Governmental and Governmental
Employees Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/1 et seq. (West 2004)) (Tort Immunity Act)
provided an affirmative defense to plaintiff's claims. The circuit court granted defendant's
motion, and plaintiff brought this appeal. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
Abruzzo filed an original complaint as the independent administrator of Joseph's estate
on October 28, 2005, seeking damages for wrongful death, survival, and family expenses. The
complaint alleged the following. On October 31, 2004, Joseph was 15 years old and living with