We pursued a spinal injury compensation claim for Nessa who
was left wheelchair bound after a spinal fusion operation. Her
previous solicitors had advised her to accept £2,500 but we secured
more than £17,000 compensation, which Nessa was happy to
accept.
In 1990, Nessa, then aged 15, was
suffering from scoliosis, a medical condition where a person's
spine is curved from side to side.
She was advised that she required
a spinal fusion operation. Nessa also suffered from mild
spasticity and at the same time as the spinal surgery she was to
have an operation to release tendons in her legs to ease
difficulties she experienced when walking.
The operations were performed on 23 November
1990. A wake-up test was performed during the operation
and it found that Nessa could not move her feet but at
the end of the operation, Nessa was able to move her
feet.
Two days later Nessa complained that there
was a tingling in her toes and that she couldn't move them
either. She was taken back to theatre six hours later
where the metalwork from the internal fixation was
removed.
Unfortunately this operation was unsuccessful
and Nessa never regained movement in her legs. As a result, Nessa
is now confined to a wheelchair.
Nessa was pursuing legal action through another law fun and was
not happy when they advised that she accept a payment into court of
£2,500. She felt that this was too low and asked us to investigate
the claim for her.
We reviewed the papers and felt that the case warranted further
investigation. We had also conducted a similar claim against the
same surgeon.
Whilst those investigations were continuing,
the defendants unsuccessfully attempted to strike out Nessa's claim
for want of prosecution.
Our investigations indicated that Nessa
would likely have been wheelchair bound within five years
anyway as her spinal damage was so
severe.
Our evidence showed that the damage to
Nessa's spinal cord was due to a compromise of the blood supply
through a combination of surgical stress, pre-existing
kyphosis and pre-existing radiotherapy damage.
But we still felt that £2,500 was far too low for damages
and we negotiated an increased settlement of the claim in the
sum of £17,365 plus costs. Nessa got to keep all of her
damages.
Nessa was happy to accept more than
£17,000 compensation and since the case has completed her A Levels
and obtained her undergraduate degree. She is now working
as a Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist.
For further information or if you have a spinal injury negligence claim please call
Paul McNeil on 020 7861
4019 or email paul.mcneil@ffw.com
You can discuss your spinal injury
compensation claim with any member of our medical negligence team on freephone
0800 358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry form.