Our Military Accident Solicitors secured a Navy engineer a substantial compensation settlement from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for her injuries and her lost career.
What Happened
Miss Lane* joined the Royal Navy in December 2015 as an Aircraft Engineer. She was working at a Royal Naval Air Station when Storm Helena hit the UK. The wind speeds were extremely high with heavy rain. Miss Lane was told to ground run an aircraft that’d recently received maintenance work.
Miss Lane was concerned about the safety of opening the sliding hanger doors and doing the ground run, so she asked for instructions from her chain of command. Despite telling them her concerns and observations, Miss Lane was told to open the hangar door anyway. The hangar doors were staggered, allowing them to slide over each other as they’re opened and closed.
As Miss Lane was opening the sliding hangar door from the inside, she suddenly felt her clothing being caught by the door. She didn’t know that her superior had started rolling the other door across the track from the outside. The high speed wind contributed to the door’s momentum, pulling Miss Lane’s left arm and shoulder in between the two hanger doors.
She suffered several serious injuries, including dislocating her left shoulder, crushing injuries to her arm and hand as well as nerve damage. The accident left Miss Lane with weakness using her arm, chronic pain as well as emotional trauma about what happened.
Because her injuries restricted her arm’s movement and cause her daily chronic pain, the Royal Navy medically discharged Miss Lane from service. Losing her job was really hard for Miss Lane as she was already in a poor emotional state from her awful experience. She would have to re-train and find a new job that would fit with her physical restrictions.
How We Helped
In early 2018, Miss Lane got in touch with our expert military injury solicitors to investigate her accident and help her access treatment and rehabilitation. Carol Purang handled her case and helped make sure Miss Lane received the best outcome possible.
Carol immediately got to work investigating what happened to her, gathering evidence to support her case. We spoke to Miss Lane’s colleagues and investigated the orders and safety measures she’d been given leading up to her accident. We also gathered medical evidence to support the extent of her injuries and how they were caused
Carol put together a strong case for Miss Lane, which convinced the MOD to admit they were at fault for the injuries Miss Lane suffered.
Because of Carol’s thorough investigations in building her case, we were able to get Miss Lane a life-changing compensation settlement of nearly £900,000. This helped her to cover the costs from the impact of her accident.
Miss Lane’s substantial settlement covers the costs of her long-term medical and therapy bills and her university education to replace her career in the military. The compensation also paid for adaptations to her house (.e.g. changing locks) to make daily life with an injury more manageable.
The compensation continues to help Miss Lane move her life in a different direction after her discharge from the Navy.
Where is Miss Lane Now?
Miss Lane is a very impressive woman who clearly excelled in her very short time with the Navy. Despite her severe injuries, she went on to receive a First Class Honors Degree at university while studying Civil Agriculture and Engineering.
Despite Miss Lane being devastated that in her injuries had ended her strong Navy career, she didn’t let her injuries prevent her from succeeding in life. Her can-do attitude means that her compensation can settlement go a long way toward her recovery and her future career.
Miss Lane has said herself how delighted she is with our specialist Military Accident team, “Any case is understandably long and stressful but this was made so much easier by having such a fantastic, supportive and professional team who were there for me every step of the way. My case has now concluded with fantastic results which now allow me to live my life knowing I am able to get the support and equipment I need without having to worry about funding. To be honest it hasn't really sunk in yet.”
Carol spoke on behalf of her team, “It’s been a real pleasure to work with Miss Lane to help her secure a life changing level of compensation for the terrible injuries she has suffered at such a young age. Seeing her go on to succeed after her accident really makes everything we do worthwhile. I know that it’s changed both her life and that of her family.”
If you’ve suffered a serious injury while working in the military, get in touch with our military accident solicitors and we could help you make a compensation claim.
*Names have been changed
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