Car passenger secures £9.2m settlement after suffering brain injury in collision

A pregnant woman who suffered a severe brain injury in a high-speed collision has secured a settlement of £9.2million, enabling her to access the bespoke support and rehabilitation she needs to help rebuild her life.

The woman was a front seat passenger in a car which crashed into a tree, after the driver lost control when they hit another vehicle that pulled out into their path.

Already mother to a young child, the woman did not know at that time she was expecting her second baby – and was left fighting for life after the collision in 2019.

Having sustained a serious traumatic brain injury, and a raft of physical injuries, she was forced to spend several months in hospital to recover.

The woman will suffer the impact of the collision for the rest of her life. She experiences cognitive problems which impede her ability to work and manage her financial affairs, and struggles with memory and fatigue. She also needs support in managing her and her children’s day-to-day lives.

While she has made a good physical recovery from her injuries, the woman continues to experience reduced function on her right side and issues with her balance.

As she and her family sought to rebuild their lives after the devastating collision, they turned to serious injury specialists at Slater and Gordon for support. Helen Gierc, senior associate, acted for the woman in her claim.

Through the law firm’s focus on rehabilitation and maximising quality of life after serious injury, the woman was able to move into a property which best met her needs after discharge from hospital, and also had the support of an extensive multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to deliver the therapies she needed to help rebuild her life.

Helen also liaised closely with social services and family law specialists to secure the support her client needed to enable her to be the best possible mother to her two children, the youngest of whom was born seven months after the collision.

Although the woman was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, Helen secured a liability split of 92.5 per cent after securing extensive evidence to support her case that the woman would have suffered similar injuries even if she had worn a seat belt.

An out of court settlement of £9.2million was secured for the woman, which will provide for her lifelong care and rehabilitation needs.

“This was an absolutely devastating car collision which has had a profound and lifelong impact on our client. The severe traumatic brain injury she suffered has impacted on all aspects of her life, not least in her role as a mother,” says Helen Gierc.

“We have worked incredibly hard to help our client to return to an independent life, enabling her to access the highest standards of care and rehabilitation, as well as putting the support structures in place around her, to allow her to move forward in her life.

“This settlement will give our client and her children the financial certainty to look to the future, with provision in place to ensure this is managed appropriately – given our client’s lack of financial capacity – and to allow her to continue to access the support she needs for the rest of her life.”