When he was 4 years of age, X broke his leg and suffered a major head injury after being knocked down by a lorry.
- His head injury led to difficulties understanding things and changes in his personality
- He also needed 24 hour supervision and extra help at school
Most people who came into contact with him did not understand the effect a traumatic brain injury can have on a developing child and just regarded him as a naughty child with learning difficulties.
- His family found it very difficult to cope with him at home and his school did not know how to overcome his problems.
- There was an urgent need to obtain some specialist input and assistance but neither the family nor the school had the means available to find or employ this help.
The family contacted Nelsons and although evidence from the police suggested the lorry driver could not have avoided the accident, we felt there was evidence from his tachograph that he may have been speeding.
- We obtained an accident reconstruction report which suggested that the lorry had indeed been speeding and that although X had run out in front of him, the driver would still have been able to stop if he was travelling within the speed limit.
- We then obtained a number of reports on X’s injuries and their effects following multi-disciplinary assessments by a number of experts.
- This enabled us to make an application to the Court for an interim payment so that both X’s family and his school could get some specialist help to care for him and help him reach his full potential.
We were also keen to ensure that X’s long term needs would be met and began to obtain further multi-disciplinary reports when he was a little older and the effects of the injury and the further help he may need could be more fully assessed.
The case concluded when the Court approved a settlement for £3 million which ensured that X would at least have financial security for the rest of his life.
