A young Mississauga man badly hurt after slipping on an icy patch and sliding into the gorge at Albion Falls one winter night in 2016 has initiated a lawsuit against the City of Hamilton and others over the incident.

Lawyers for Corey Dixon, 23, have filed a statement of claim in Hamilton's courthouse against the city, the Hamilton Conservation Authority, the Hamilton Conservation Foundation, the Bruce Trail Conservancy, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and the Niagara Escarpment Commission.

The claim alleges they were all negligent in taking care of the staircase and the area at Albion Falls, which remained open to the public.

Dixon is seeking damages of $390,000 — the maximum amount allowed for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, according to his Barrie lawyer Robert Durante — but has left another search for special damages (for loss of income and future earnings) open-ended for the courts to decide.

Dixon slipped at the bottom of the stairs and fell after visiting the falls at night during the early-morning hours of February 27, 2016 — and according to the claim, continued to slide until he fell over a ravine and a rock ledge to land "violently" on the rocks at the bottom of Albion Falls. He lay "helpless on the ground for over an hour and half, causing him to suffer from hypothermia," the claim states. "As a result of the fall, Corey suffered serious and permanent injuries."

His listed injuries include severe traumatic brain injury and bone and vertebrae fractures that created problems, including a loss of short- and long-term memory, an inability to focus and concentrate, irritability and "uncontrolled outbursts of anger," post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and social introversion.

It also left him with back pain, blurred vision, impaired mobility and disabling headaches, it states.

As a result, Dixon has sustained a loss of income and "a diminution of earning capacity."

Dixon is a station manager with internet radio station 401radio.com as well as an actor, host, YouTube and public speaker, according to his Facebook page and Twitter account.

Dixon's claim alleges the parties named knew the staircase and the falls area were not safe but failed to close it off to the public. It states the parking lot and stairs were not gated closed despite the staircase being covered in ice and snow.

It also states the parties were "reckless and wilfully blind to the dangerous conditions," failed to reasonably inspect and maintain the area — and encouraged public access by keeping the stairs open and promoting Albion Falls as a tourist attraction.

The allegations have not been proven in court and statements of defence have not yet been filed by the city, conservation authority, province, or Niagara Escarpment Commission. Their legal departments are reviewing the claim, which they received just before the Christmas holidays.

The Bruce Trail Conservancy has not taken any action either, but CEO Beth Gilhespy said it is "looking to find out the location of the incident" first, to see whether it was on the Bruce Trail or not.

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The conservation authority could not be reached for comment.