Irwin Mitchell’s Serious Injury team acted on behalf of an elderly gentleman after he suffered multiple injuries during a fall.
The gentleman, T, had just finished babysitting his daughter’s children when the accident occurred. As T went to leave the property where his daughter lived, he tripped on an uneven area of carpet and fell down the stairwell.
Severe injuries
T suffered a number of injuries including:
- A brain haemorrhage
- A small laceration to his spleen
- Hemopneumothorax (an accumulation of air and blood in his pleural cavity)
- Fractures to his left shoulder, collar bone and ribs
- Fracture to his cheekbone and damage to his eye socket.
As a result of his injuries, T was admitted to hospital where he unfortunately experienced a rupture to his spleen which led to multiple cardiac arrests, emergency surgery and the need for life support.
T has since returned home to the care of his wife and family but has had several falls because his injuries have affected his balance. He also has limited movement in his left arm which affects his mobility and experiences reduced vision. Furthermore, T has problems with cognition and his personality due to the head injury.
T is of strong Jewish faith and the accident has prevented him from attending Synagogue and socialising in the community.
Making a claim
T and his family came to Irwin Mitchell for help. Serious injury solicitor, Laura Murphy, acted on T’s behalf and made a claim against the landlord responsible for the poor condition of the carpet. The carpet not only caused a hazard to lawful visitors, but no provisions had been made prior to the accident to make the stairs safe, no warning signs had been presented and the organisation had failed to repair the flooring.
Holding the landlord to account for T’s injuries was tricky as there were no actual witnesses to the fall and how it occurred. Because of his injuries, T had no recollection of the accident and in addition, T had a number of pre-accident health problems so detailed expert advice was needed to help differentiate between existing, new and escalated health problems.
Working together, we managed to secure a significant compensation sum for T which will ensure that carers can continue to visit him every morning to assist him with dressing and washing, even if local authority care was to stop or be reduced. He now also has funds available to employ support workers to help him get to Synagogue and other community events. The money will relieve some of the pressure on his family, who were providing a substantial amount of care following the accident.
In relation to the case, Laura Murphy said: “I was very proud that despite liability being difficult, we were able to access early funds which enabled us to instruct a specialist brain injury case manager. She was able to implement a number of essential rehabilitation goals for the client including the purchase of a lightweight wheelchair, assessments by a vision impairment clinic and the purchase of equipment to assist him.
“She also arranged an assessment by a neuropsychologist, a support worker to assist him with accessing the community and a panic alarm.
“This was a good example of the real difference early rehabilitation can make to a client’s quality of life.”
Our serious injury claims team could help you claim compensation if you have suffered a serious head or brain injury as the result of an accident. Visit our Brain & Head Injury Claims page for more information.
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