Father of crash victim appeals for witnesses
Serious brain injury
29/10/2008
The father of a Gateshead man left with a serious brain injury after a car crash has appealed for witnesses to the incident.
Steven O'Neil, now 24, was driving east along the A184 Felling by-pass on the way to work at around 8.20am on Saturday, 4th March, 2006, when his car crashed through the central reservation underneath the south-bound Lingley Lane flyover.
Part of the barrier between carriageways tore through the car and pierced the side of Mr O'Neil's head, leaving him fighting for his life.
After four weeks on a life support machine, Mr O'Neil recovered and was eventually released into his parents' care, but now suffers from a range of symptoms associated with brain injury, including depression, anxiety, lack of concentration and short-term memory loss.
The memory loss means he has no recollection of the accident and has been unable to describe what took place.
In a bid to find out exactly what happened, Mr O'Neil's father Vincent has instructed law firm Irwin Mitchell to help find witnesses to the accident and urged people to come forward if they saw anything.
Vincent O'Neil said: "We are sure somebody must have seen something – it happened on a main road at a busy time on a Saturday morning. We have also heard that a coach and an HGV were passing at the time, so we are hopeful that somebody can give us some information.
"All we want at this stage is to be able to get some answers – Steven drove that route frequently so he was familiar with the road and with the speed limits. It seems so unlikely that he would lose control on a straight and drive into a fence."
Anybody who thinks they may be able to help can contact partner Fran Mayes at Irwin Mitchell on 0191 279 0093.
She said: "The lives of an entire family have been changed forever by what happened to Mr O’Neil but there are so many question marks surrounding the incident.
"The crash reports showed there was nothing wrong with the car – its tyres, steering and brakes were all ok. We believe something must have caused the crash but without witnesses it is impossible to say what.
"Mr O'Neil was driving a light blue Renault Clio and it was a cold March morning. Any piece of information, no matter how small, could prove to be crucial to help us discover what went wrong."
Vincent O'Neil described how difficult life had been for his son since the crash: "Steven cannot remember the first year of his young daughter Bobbie Jo's life, and he has not been able to work since so my wife and I have had to support him financially.
"He is claiming disability living allowance but he would much rather go back to work – it's all he wants to do but his condition now makes it very difficult to find a job."