Case Example

Rehabilitation works for young negligence victim

Our client, a young male in his late teenage years was involved in a road traffic accident in 2002.  He was rushed to hospital and required treatment for his many injuries.  The hospital failed to identify a rupture to our client's main artery in his right leg and as a result he had to have his leg amputated to below knee level.  Problems with infections developed and resulted in a further operation to reduce his residual limb to hip level in 2004.

We were approached by this client to investigate the circumstances surrounding his treatment.  The hospital admitted liability for the damage to our client's leg and in 2007 we were successful in an application to the Court to obtain interim finance of just under £100,000 to assist with this client's immediate rehabilitation and housing needs.

Through our careful management, close relationship with the client and his strong determination he has attended PACE Rehabilitation Limited in Manchester and London for the provision of prosthetic limbs.  This has been an incredibly long and testing time for our client.  He now has two limbs, a Microprocessor Prosthetic, which is considered to be the most up to date modern developments for prosthetic limbs.  He has also had a specialist knee made, which will assist him to continue with his pre-injury hobby of riding motorcycles.

He has needed significant care and assistance since the surgery, which will continue into his future.  He will require assistance with transport and domestic assistance.  He will need therapeutic intervention such as counselling and occupational therapy input.

At the time of the accident our client lived with his mother, step-father and young half brother.  The house was unsuitable for his needs.  A suitable single storey bungalow was located for him on a rental agreement paid for out of the interim damages received.  Our client lived in this house throughout the litigation process.  Our client is now actively seeking a suitable house to purchase and with our assistance this house will be fully adapted by professionals to meet his needs.

This case was very sensitive in that the client was a young male who had to endure 5 years of litigation in order to receive the compensation he deserved.  In February 2009 a settlement of just under £2 millions was made to recompense our client for the pain and suffering he has had to endure, the loss of earnings he has incurred and will incur into the future, provide paid domestic care assistance and to enable him to have a suitable standard of living into his future.  It has also provided security to enable him to continue his relationship with PACE Rehabilitation Limited for his prosthetic needs for the rest of his life.

Our involvement with this client does not end here.  We will continue to work with this client and manage his settlement in order to maximise his damages and save for his future.  We will assist him to obtain the required care, occupational therapy equipment and assist in the purchase of a home.

One of the most important aspects of this claim was to secure the required amount of funding in order to fund the provision of prosthetic limbs for the rest of this claimant's life.  Being very active prior to the negligence our client felt an enormous change to his lifestyle.  We instructed a driving agency to assess our client for specific needs to drive cars and ride motorcycles.  The funding will also pay for the necessary adaptations.  Having provided PACE Rehabilitation Limited with a copy of the motorcycle assessment they were able to fashion an appropriate prosthetic limb, which has a knee unit that will lock into position whenever our client needs to put his foot down on the floor.  It will provide him with the safety and confidence he needs to be able to support his weight and the motocycle in any everyday riding situation.

The settlement has finally provided our client with the closure and financial support that he needed to be able to start to move forward with his life.