Ludovic Michaud filed a wrongful death claim against the National Park Service for $270 million last month over the death of his wife, Ugandan activist Esther Nakajjigo, earlier this year.

The couple, who married in March and were living in Denver, took a road trip to Utah’s Arches National Park on June 13.

When the two were leaving in their car, a metal gate at the park’s exit swung open from the wind and impaled the passenger door, decapitating 25-year-old Nakajjigo. She was killed instantly.

The claim, served on Oct. 22, alleges the park should have not left the gate unsecured, allowing the possibility of it to swing into oncoming traffic.

Park staff admitted to investigators that the gate was usually left unsecured and that its own weight typically kept it in place.

“For want of an $8 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good,” the claim said. “A young woman influencer destined to become our society’s future Princess Diana, Philanthropist Melinda Gates, or Oprah Winfrey.”

Nakajjigo, who went by Essie, was a human rights advocate in her home country of Uganda, particularly focused on women’s rights.

At 17, Nakajjigo used her college tuition money to start a nonprofit community health center, providing free reproductive health services to women. She was named Uganda’s ambassador for women and girls that year.

Nakajjigo created two reality TV shows centered around women’s issues. One, “Saving Innocence,” helped teen moms in rural communities go back to school and received over 6 million viewers each week. The shows earned her Uganda’s “Young Personality of the Year.”

Nakajjigo moved to Boulder to attend the Watson Institute, a program for young entrepreneurs, where she was the recipient of a Luff Peace Fellowship. She met Michaud in Aurora in 2019.

“I just went from the best time of my life to the worst in just like one second,” said Michaud in a video included with the claim. “She changed my life.”

The claim points to three instances since 1988 where people in cars were killed by unsecured gates.

A similar incident also occurred in 1980 when a California camper was impaled by a U.S. Forest Service road closure gate.

“The National Park Service has, in fact, known for decades that an unsecured metal pipe gate creates an undetectable hazard and dangerous condition for its park invitees,” the claim said.

According to reports in the claim, it would have been impossible for Michaud, who was driving, to avoid the swinging gate. There was less than one second between when the gate began to move and when it hit their vehicle.

The claim served last month is legally required before a lawsuit can be filed. Michaud’s lawyer said they expect to file a lawsuit in around six months.