Kirsty Allen, Legal Director, secured a £1,000,000 settlement for a 53-year-old construction worker who suffered devastating injuries in a workplace accident.
Our client was transporting a pallet of steel stubs down a slippery ramp when he lost his footing. The pallet truck collided with him, trapping him against temporary steel steps and causing severe crushing injuries. Liability was compromised on a 75% to 25% basis in our client's favour.
The accident resulted in catastrophic injuries including compound fractures to our client’s left leg (tibia and fibula), multiple foot fractures, a broken collarbone, back and neck injuries, and severe scarring. Despite multiple surgeries over six years, his tibia failed to unite / heal properly, leaving him with constant pain and severely limited mobility. He can only walk 400 to 500 metres with crutches and rarely leaves his house.
Before the accident, our client was extremely fit and his life revolved around his construction work. He has been unable to return to work and has limited prospects of finding alternative employment.
Kirsty secured our client £150,000 in interim payments which enabled him to access private medical treatment in the form of further tibial surgery. However, our expert evidence indicated that our client would not know whether this surgery had been successful until 6 to 12 months after the procedure. There was considered to be a poorer than average chance of success with a probability of the tibia not properly uniting estimated at around 30%.
Given the uncertain prognosis at the time of settlement, the settlement was structured to account for three possible outcomes: successful surgery with residual limitations, unsuccessful surgery without amputation (resulting in the worst functional outcome), or unsuccessful surgery followed by below-knee amputation which would improve mobility but require lifelong prosthetic use.
The £1,000,000 settlement (based on the 75% liability agreement) reflects the catastrophic nature of the injuries, the profound impact on every aspect of our client's life, the uncertain prognosis, and the need to provide for his care, accommodation and financial security across all potential scenarios.