Mother Speaks Of Family's Excitement

A teenager whose parents were told to say goodbye to her after she was severely injured in a road accident when she was eight will continue her ‘miracle’ recovery by picking up her first GCSE tomorrow.

Despite doctors fearing the worst, Marisca Le Roux, now 16, battled through a coma, and survived a life threatening operation which required the neurosurgical team to remove the frontal part of the brain that had been damaged and that would not stop bleeding.

She has since staged what her mother Tracy Van Rooyen calls a “miracle” recovery meaning she has been able to attend Highfield School in Ossett, specialists in cognition and learning, where she sat her science GCSE earlier this year.

Today Mrs Van Rooyen, from Kinsley, near Wakefield, has spoken of the family’s excitement as results day approaches and their relief as their legal claim to secure enough compensation to provide for Marisca’s needs throughout her life comes to a close.

Mrs Van Rooyen said: “Marisca and her sister went to get some sweets at the local shop and next thing I knew my daughter was in a coma. Four days after the accident the doctors told us to say goodbye - they didn’t think she was going to make it. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare.

“But after two agonising months of waiting and two operations on her brain she began to show signs of improvement and Marisca began her road to recovery.

“For her now to be going to school, sitting a GCSE and making plans for the future is a miracle in my eyes. That’s why we are all so proud of her – all of the hard work that has gone into her recovery has paid off and she is doing really well.”

Her solicitor Hema Rana, a serious injury specialist at law firm Irwin Mitchell said: “Marisca’s injuries mean that she will never be able to live independently and has difficulties in social situations, but the improvements she has shown are incredible. She is a true inspiration to people young and old with similar serious head injuries.

“The payment is all the more significant given that Tracy had previously been told by another law firm there were no grounds for a claim. Marisca’s injuries were so serious we believed action should be taken and we’re pleased to have been able to secure these funds to give her a more certain future.”

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious head or brain injury as the result of an accident, our serious injury claims team could help you claim compensation. Visit our Brain & Head Injury Claims page for more information.