¶ 8 On October 30, 2014, defendants filed a motion to reconsider or, in the alternative, for leave to file an interlocutory appeal pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 308. In their motion, defendants argued that the recently decided case of Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 133964, 386 Ill.Dec. 108, 19 N.E.3d 1261, directly applied to this case and supported that plaintiff's second amended complaint did not relate back to the original complaint. On December 29, 2014, the trial court denied defendants' motion to reconsider and granted their motion for an interlocutory appeal. On January 8, 2015, the trial court found that the order involved a question of law for which there were substantial grounds for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal would materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation.

Defendants concede that the complaint was timely under section 5/13-211 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/13-211 (West 2020)), which allows a minor to "bring an action for personal injuries within two years after the minor turns 18, regardless of whether the cause of action accrued more than two years earlier." Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 133964, ¶ 14. Halo is a popular first-person shooter videogame franchise.

Such a claim is not one for damages as a result of the child's personal injury, but is instead premised upon the parents' personal liability for the child's medical expenses under the Act. Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 19 N.E.3d 1261, 1264, 2014 IL App (1st) 133964. The cause of action has been recognized to belong to the parents, and "if the parents are not entitled to recover, neither is the child."

In Illinois, parents have a cause of action against a tortfeasor who injures their child and causes them to incur medical expenses. Pirrello v. Maryville Acad., Inc., 19 N.E.3d 1261, 1264 (Ill. App. Ct. 2014). The claim is not one for damages stemming from the child's physical injury, but one founded on the parents' liability for the minor's medical expenses under the Illinois Family Expense Act.

Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 133964, ¶ 11; Rash, 406 Ill.App.3d at 385.

That statute obligates parents to pay for the "expenses of the family," which includes medical expenses of their minor children. 750 ILCS 65/15(a)(1) (West 2000); Graul v. Adrian, 32 Ill. 2d 345, 347 (1965); Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 133964, ¶ 11. The obligation to pay the medical expenses for a minor child is that of the parent, and, therefore, the cause of action to recover for medical expenses lies in the parent.

That statute obligates parents to pay for the "expenses of the family," which includes medical expenses of their minor children. 750 ILCS 65/15(a)(1) (West 2000); Graul v. Adrian, 32 Ill. 2d 345, 347 (1965); Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 133964, ¶ 11. The obligation to pay the medical expenses for a minor child is that of the parent, and, therefore, the cause of action to recover for medical expenses lies in the parent.

¶ 27 Nevertheless, the Aronberg defendants argue that count III of the amended complaint does not relate back to the filing of the plaintiff's original complaint because she filed the amended complaint as an individual and as a beneficiary of the PLZ Trust, and not in her capacity as trustee of the PLZ Trust as she had in her original complaint. In support of their contention that count III of the amended complaint is essentially a new claim brought by a new party, the Aronberg defendants cite Pirrello v. Maryville Academy, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 133964. We find Pirrello to be distinguishable from the case at bar.