Multi-million pound compensation award for partial amputation of both hands following accident at work.
We were contacted by the family of a young man who suffered horrendous injuries to both hands while at work after becoming trapped in machinery. He was airlifted to hospital where he remained for months, undergoing multiple surgeries. Despite the best efforts of the medical team our client’s injuries were so severe that large parts of both hands had to be amputated.
While he was still in hospital, we initiated a claim against his employer for compensation for partial amputation of both hands. It was impossible at that stage to know for certain what had caused the safety mechanism of the machine to fail but we argued that something had clearly gone catastrophically wrong, as it should be impossible for someone to become trapped in machinery if all reasonable safety steps had been followed.
We asked the employer to fund rehabilitation for our client as soon as possible to help him recover and cope with his life-changing injuries. While the insurers agreed to fund some rehabilitation, they did not accept that the employer had done anything wrong. In fact, they tried to blame our client for his injuries, saying he should have realised there was a technical problem with the machine.
We arranged for an expert engineer to inspect the machine. His report concluded that a switch had failed due to ‘wear and tear’. Therefore, we alleged a failure to carry out adequate maintenance and that it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Alongside the civil claim for compensation, the HSE investigated and brought charges against the employer for their various breaches of health and safety law. Despite this, and the company pleading guilty to those charges, they continued to blame our client for a lack of care. We therefore arranged to commence court proceedings and brought on board a specialist barrister who had expertise in injuries caused by faulty work machinery to draft the court papers.
We also obtained evidence from a range of medical experts, including a consultant in rehabilitation medicine, a psychologist, an occupational therapist, and a prosthetist.
The insurer agreed to fund treatment under the Rehabilitation Code, and after some argument, also agreed to fund high-tech prosthetics.
Eventually the employer and its insurance company formally accepted legal liability for the accident, but they continued to suggest that their employee had contributed to it; allegations that we strenuously resisted.
Once we had gathered our evidence, we were able to calculate the cost of all the equipment and assistance our client would need in order to live his life to the fullest. We then invited the defendant to a settlement meeting to discuss the compensation package.
At that meeting the remaining allegations against our client were dropped and a multi-million pound out of court settlement for partial amputation of both hands was agreed. This will ensure that our client will always be able to fund his prosthetics and will not need to worry about the impact of the accident on his working life.
Partner Elizabeth Duncan who dealt with the claim throughout said:
“This was a claim arising from catastrophic injuries to a young man with his whole life ahead of him. The injuries impacted every area of his life and would do forever. Despite enormous challenges this gentleman was determined to live a full life and is a true inspiration. I am so pleased that we were able to negotiate this compensation package.”
If you are seeking compensation for an accident that results in amputation, then contact our helpline for a FREE case assessment and details of No Win, No Fee funding.
Call 0333 888 0404 or email us at [email protected]
