Family’s Hope For Better Future After Healthcare Provider Admits Liability

A former professional boxing champion has spoken of his determination to look to the future after a screening company admitted shortcomings, which resulted in his potentially fatal brain aneurysm being missed and his licence being wrongly reissued.

Darren McDermott was sparring with the former two-time world light-heavyweight champion boxer, Nathan Cleverly in preparation for his own upcoming title fight when the undetected aneurysm ruptured after he received a blow to the head.

The 39-year-old underwent emergency surgery to stem a bleed on his brain. Only five months previously, Darren had been given the ‘all clear’ and was re-licensed to box, following his British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) mandated annual medical and MRI scan.

Following the incident in 2010, Darren and wife, Claire, of Dudley, instructed specialist medical negligence lawyer Thomas Riis-Bristow at Irwin Mitchell to investigate whether the fighter’s pre-existing aneurysm should have been detected during routine testing.

InHealth Ltd, was the company appointed by the BBBoC to manage the process of obtaining and checking all professional boxers’ MRI scans for re-licensing purposes.

It has agreed to pay the couple a substantial settlement after admitting liability for Darren’s injuries. InHealth accepted its own Professional Boxers’ MRI protocol did not include certain types of additional scans which should have been taken for all professional boxers. It also accepted that, had the protocol included these additional scans, Darren’s aneurysm would likely have been detected, his licence revoked and his brain injury avoided.

As a result of the aneurysm going undetected, the BBBoC relied on InHealth’s approval of Darren’s MRI scan and renewed his licence because the MRI scan was reported as without concern, when in reality he had a dangerous undetected aneurysm which should have precluded him from ever entering the ring again.

The settlement money will help pay for specialist support and rehabilitation Darren now requires. He has been left with acute short-term memory loss, difficulty with controlling emotions and struggles with work following his injury.

Expert Opinion

If Darren’s aneurysm had been detected as it should have been during his annual MRI re-licensing scan, the BBBoC would have immediately and indefinitely suspended his professional boxing licence and an appropriate medical plan could have been put in place to treat the aneurysm before it got to a more dangerous stage.

“Darren would certainly not have sparred and so he would not have suffered his traumatic brain haemorrhage, two subsequent invasive open brain surgeries and would not have suffered the permanent brain injury he lives with today. He should never have been allowed back in the ring, but was sadly let down by shortcomings in InHealth’s professional boxers’ MRI protocol.

“We welcome the admission of liability and hope that this settlement helps Darren and his family cope with the permanent impact his injuries have on them in the best way they can.” Tom Riis-Bristow - Senior Associate Solicitor

Darren and Claire met in 2002 and married in 2007. The couple have two sons, Kian, 13, and four-year-old Vinnie.

Darren, nicknamed the Black Country Bodysnatcher, had been preparing for a British super-middleweight championship fight when he was training with Nathan Cleverley in August 2010. The pair were wearing protective guards as is standard for training and sparring when Darren received the blow.

Darren, a former British middleweight champion, who had won 17 of his 20 fights, was forced to retire.

Following his retirement Darren set up the Brooklands Amateur Boxing Club in Dudley, which has now grown to around 100 members from the local community.

Darren said: “I leant over to land a punch and Nathan hit me on the top of the head. When I was hit, the feeling was not like any other sensation I had experienced before. I knew something was wrong immediately.

“As I sat at home after my surgery, everything that had happened slowly started to dawn on me. I had to accept that I wouldn’t be able to fight again and that my boxing career was over. I felt like I had changed as a person overnight

“I am so grateful to the hospital staff for saving my life but the last eight years have been a real struggle as my family tried to come to terms with how our lives had changed.

“Claire is not only my wife and is more like my personal assistant now. I struggle with everyday tasks such as remembering where I have left my car, constantly losing things and even what colour my toothbrush is.

“I hold nothing against Nathan, he is blameless in this. I should not have been put at risk by being allowed to continue fighting.

“InHealth’s admission is a major milestone in my recovery. It has given my family renewed strength to look to the future rather than dwell on the past.

“We take some comfort from the fact that my injury lead to InHealth changing their Professional Boxers’ MRI protocol and they now carry out additional MRI scans for all professional boxers, which should help to pick up small bleeds on the brain like the one I had and was missed.

"Whilst it is too little too late for me, I am thankful that some good has come of what happened to me and that the sport at the highest level is now that little bit safer.

“I will always be a stronger supporter of the sport and the safety of fighters is always paramount.”

Claire added: “Darren knows that he would have always had to retire from boxing had his aneurysm been identified on his last boxing fitness MRI scan, but it would have been much less traumatic for him to cope with as he wouldn’t have the shock of the haemorrhage, the surgery and the symptoms of his brain injury he now lives with, which are a daily reminder of what happened to him.

“The love me and Darren have for each other has helped get us through the last few years. We just hope InHealth learns lessons and continues to carefully review their protocols so other families don’t have to suffer like we have.”

Read more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in handling medical negligence cases.