My friend who lives in OH was recently bit by a cat that frequents their backyard. There are a few stray cats that roam their backyard, but there is one specific cat that is a neighbor’s. My friend has contacted this neighbor several times and reunited the cat with it’s owner, but the owner continues to let the cat just roam the neighborhood.

Last week, the neighbor’s cat was in the backyard and attacked another cat. My friend went out to stop the fighting and shoo the cats off, but the neighbor’s cat bit my friend’s hand. The cat biting my friend is on video from their back door camera. Ultimately over the last few days, my friend ended up in the hospital with severe sepsis and had to go through surgery from this cat bite.

The neighbor refuses to respond to any questions about any vaccines and continues to ignore. My friend also developed bell’s palsy and may never have feeling in their hand again.

Therefore, my friend is debating on whether or not to move forward with suing this neighbor. Would that be applicable here? Are there steps that should be taken before moving to steps to sue?

TLDR; friend almost died from neighbor’s cat bite after telling said neighbor to keep cat out of their backyard. What steps should be taken moving forward?