Angela Georgiou, led by Gerard Martin KC, recently secured a settlement of £4.75 million for a 24 year old claimant, who was just 18 when he suffered a traumatic below knee amputation when he was run over whilst crossing a road. The case involved complex causation issues, including a residuum that was insensate and badly shaped for socket fit and weight bearing. The Claimant also had a pre-existing psychological vulnerability which had been made worse by the accident. Post accident the Claimant began using cannabis and cocaine, leading to drug-induced psychosis and the requirement for him to be sectioned on 3 separate occasions. During times when he was using drugs, the Claimant's self-care was poor, leading to repeated infections in his residuum. It was the opinion of the Claimant's medical experts that the Claimant would require an above-knee amputation within 5 years, as being best way to provide the Claimant with function, socket fit and the ability to properly care for his stump. The need for an above-knee amputation, and the consequent need for sophisticated prosthetics, was not accepted by the Defendants.
An interesting argument pursued by the Claimant in this case was that his per-existing psychosocial vulnerability had been converted by the accident into a full blown personality disorder, such that the Claimant had lost capacity to manage his own affairs and would require the daily assistance of support workers to keep him safe. This in turn led to a large claim for deputyship costs and future care and case management. Thus, the case was far from the usual in terms of outcome, since usually with good prosthetic equipment Claimants achieve independence and their care requirement is reduced.
Although the loss of capacity was not contentious, the reasons for that were highly contested. The Defendant argued that the Claimant’s problems were largely of his own making, being due to his choice to consume drugs and thus should not sound in damages.
Angela was instructed in the matter shortly after the Claimant’s accident. Working together with the Claimant’s medical experts, the Claimant’s legal team were able to secure a generous settlement for the Claimant shortly prior to trial.
Angela was instructed by Nick Pattichis of NPI Solicitors in Bolton.
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