Personal Injury
Woman suffered serious spinal injury in motorway pileup
Our client was employed on a fixed-term contract in the complaints department of an NHS Hospital Trust.
30 June 2015
Whilst on her way to work in February 2013, she was sat in her car in a line of stationary traffic on the M6 motorway when a lorry collided with the rear of the line so forcefully that two people lost their lives in the multi-car pileup.
Our client’s vehicle was crushed and almost completely destroyed. She was trapped in her car for two hours with spinal injuries before she was eventually cut free and airlifted to hospital where she underwent emergency life-threatening surgery.
Her employment with the Hospital Trust came to an end and despite her best attempts to return to work, she was unable to effectively continue with her job.
Our client instructed us in March 2013 and a claim was notified to the defendant’s insurers. Although fault was not immediately admitted, an admission of fault was secured following a coroner’s inquest.
We reviewed the case and concluded that our client required early and immediate treatment and rehabilitation.
A rehabilitation agency was instructed and we also arranged for our client to undergo extensive cognitive behavioural therapy, physiotherapy and pain management relief.
A case manager was instructed to explore our client’s potential to return to work and the nature and extent of any possible role she would be able to do once she was finally able to return to employment. A number of interim compensation payments were secured from the defendant’s solicitors to fund the treatment and rehabilitation costs.
This was a complicated case involving disputes between the medical experts instructed as to the extent to which our client was likely to recover from the effects of her injuries, the extent to which she would be left with any permanent residual symptoms, and the extent to which she was capable of returning to work whether in a full or part-time capacity.
Despite fault being admitted, the complexity of the case required Court proceedings and the case was listed for a trial in October 2015 to assess compensation.
However, the claim settled before the court date, which resulted in a significant compensation award that included damages for future financial losses, care assistance at home, and the cost of further medical and pain management treatment for our client.
Our client was delighted with the outcome of the case. She greatly appreciated the fact we were able to secure on-going treatment for her before the claim had settled – treatment she wouldn’t have been able to fund herself and which couldn’t have been provided by the NHS.
Related practice areas:
How to make a personal injury claim
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All information was correct at the time of publication.