Care Settlement For Man Left Disabled By Fall

Head Injury at Work

23/06/2008

A leading North East lawyer has secured settlement for a Yorkshire man left seriously injured and needing round-the-clock care after a fall at work.

John Davis, managing partner of Irwin Mitchell in Newcastle is one of the leading neurotrauma solicitors in Britain and was called in to represent, father of three Stephen Deakes from Doncatser.

Mr Deakes, now 48, was working at Didcot power station in Oxfordshire for his employer, Thermal Energy Construction Ltd in April 2004, installing plastic packing into a cooling tower.

He stepped from a ladder onto boarded decking inside the tower, but the boards collapsed under his feet and Mr Deakes fell 18ft, suffering a serious head injury, along with a fractured pelvis, multiple fractured ribs, haemopneumothorax (blood and air in the chest cavity) and a left lung contusion.

The fall left him with a number of physical and cognitive injuries – he has problems walking and dressing, eating and swallowing, while his speech has been affected, he has a reduced memory and also developed epileptic fits.

Stephen's wife Amanda instructed John Davis, partner and serious injury specialist at Irwin Mitchell, to seek a compensation settlement that could help provide for the lifelong care and specialised equipment that Stephen now needs.

The settlement is based on a carefully-calculated assessment of Mr Deakes' future care needs and was approved at a hearing at Sheffield High Court on Monday, June 9th. The funds will be managed by Irwin Mitchell's Court of Protection team.

Mrs Deakes said: "We are delighted with the settlement – and previous interim payments – which have removed any fears we may have about funding the care and therapy that Stephen will need.

"Stephen now completely relies on care from me and from his support worker Maureen Minshaw, whose full-time employment with us has been paid for by the settlement. The support we get from Maureen is invaluable and I would be lost without her – having her around has eased the burden on me and our daughters.

"Before the accident, Stephen was an active, loving and caring husband who always provided for us all – now he can never be left alone and needs constant care.

"Without the settlement we would constantly be worrying about where the money was coming from for his physiotherapy, communication aids, wheelchairs, and anything else that crops up in the future.

"The funds, for example, have allowed us to move to a house that is far more suitable for Stephen's needs and has space for him to get around more easily."

Irwin Mitchell's John Davis said the settlement was an accurate reflection of the care needs, but said the fall could have been avoided if the proper checks had been conducted.

He said: "The lives of an entire family have been irreversibly and catastrophically altered by the fall, which could have been prevented had the correct health and safety procedures been carried out.

"The Deakes family could never be truly compensated for what has happened but now they can rest assured that whatever they need in the future will be provided for."