How legal support helped Dan move forward after complications during surgery
Dan's story
Dan’s life was turned upside down in 2018 after his heart transplant surgery.
Dan had suffered three heart attacks in 2002, 2005 and 2016. In 2010 he was diagnosed with ischaemic heart disease and after his most recent heart attack in 2016, he was told he would need a heart transplant. In 2018, he finally got the call to say a viable heart had been found.
Unfortunately, following the transplant, Dan was in critical condition and transferred to the intensive care unit. A complication had gone undetected and restricted the blood flow to his legs during a surgery. This resulted in a below-the-knee amputation of his right leg and a nerve injury, causing foot drop in his left leg leaving him unable to work and needing care and assistance and specially adapted equipment to help him with daily life.
“You just don’t imagine waking up to not having a leg, yes I’m still here, but I’m left with an injury that is going to be with me for the rest of my life” Dan said.
How did Irwin Mitchell help?
A doctor had told Dan’s brother and sister-in-law that the complication never should have happened and that was the moment Dan and his family decided to pursue legal action and compensation.
“Irwin Mitchell were really clear on the steps that would be taken, so I felt quite confident in my case” Dan said.
Lauren Hurney, a Partner in our Medical Negligence team who managed Dan’s case commented: “It was quite shocking for me to learn what had happened to Dan. I know that I do this job all the time but to hear what he’d been through was intense. I don’t think that when you go in for one type of surgery, you don’t expect that level of complication to happen. Daniel had come to terms with what had happened, but he really just wanted to know why it had happened.”
Dan instructed us to investigate after he and his family knew that something had clearly gone very wrong during the heart transplant surgery.
The case was settled out of court shortly before trial, with Dan receiving compensation for his injuries.
How will the compensation help Dan?
The settlement has provided Dan with the financial security and support he needs to manage the impact of his injuries. It will fund his ongoing care and adaptations to his home to support his independence and mobility.
Before his injury, Dan was a keen golfer.
I was very much a keen golfer before the injury. I was an outside person, I enjoyed fishing too but golf was one of my major passions and it was one of the things I felt robbed of.”
As part of his rehabilitation, we introduced Dan to The Golf Trust, who helped Dan access his passion for golf again by letting him use the paragolfer, an all-terrain mobility unit that can lift people from a sitting to a standing position and enable them to swing a golf club freely.
Now Dan regularly attends sessions at The Golf Trust and has built up a great relationship with them, even taking part in some of their charity causes and challenges.
Dan remembers the first time he used one of the paragolfers. “First time I used it, I swung the club a few times and missed. The first time I hit the ball and it went flying, it felt really good I have to say. It give me hope that I was still going to be able to get out with friends and family for a round of golf.”
When speaking on Dan’s claim, Lauren said, “Compensation is something that’s really important because it means you have the ability to access something you want or need, for example, professional care. As you’re getting older, that’s something that everybody might want access to but it can be extremely costly, so having the right compensation in place can help massively with those needs.
Partnerships like the one we have with The Golf Trust are extremely important to our clients because it allows our clients to think about things they haven’t thought of, and for the chance to get back into hobbies that they previously didn’t think were possible.”
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