High Court settlement for Brain Injured Client

24.11.11

The litigation department were recently successful in securing the future needs of a claimant, who sadly suffered significant injuries in a road traffic collision.

The Claimant was a rear seat passenger in a car, when the driver lost control.  The vehicle collided into a bridge before careering into a river below.

The Claimant was extracted from the car by emergency services before being immediately transferred to hospital, where she underwent urgent surgery to decompress the air in the chest cavity and a halo jacket worn for stabilisation.  A tracheotomy was inserted for long term ventilation.  The claimant was kept in an induced coma for 20 days to allow the swelling in the brain to reduce, with blood having escaped to inside the skull as well as inside the brain, with blood supply to part of the brain being shut off.

In addition the Claimant suffered a fracture of the C2 vertebrae which was stabilised with a halo jacket, as well as 3 fractured ribs, fracture of the right sacral ring and left superioral ramus, fracture of superior facut of inferior ramus, bilateral haemothorax and right pneumothrax, (collapsed lung) and small haemotoma of the spleen.

The claimant was transferred to the intensive care unit some two months later and transferred again to a rehabilitation ward for a further two months, before being discharged from the rehabilitation hospital after three months.

The majority of the Claimants physical injuries resolved within approximately 18 months, save for some ongoing symptoms for which the Claimant had physiotherapy.

The brain injury however was permanent.  A significant number of experts were instructed to report on the Claimants injuries, both physical and psychological, to ensure the right level of compensation was obtained for both the pain and suffering the Claimant had suffered, and to establish if any future conditions could be onset by the injuries, such as epilepsy.  Experts were also instructed to report on the claimant’s ongoing care needs.

The claimant was a vulnerable  young adult and the main thrust of the litigation related to ensuring that the claimants clear desire to live independently and to have her own family, was facilitated by ensuring evidence was obtained to address the needs of the Claimant and of course, the cost of those needs.  In addition the claimant was deemed unable to obtain paid employment.

Andrew McCusker and Kerry Jones endeavours ensured that the cost of the ongoing claimants needs were met with a significant amount of compensation, to make certain that the Claimants future to compensate her significant injures.