I thought I would post the following case study, which details a case I have recently concluded. It is intended as an overview as to the type of service that should be expected from any lawyer working on behalf of someone who has sustained a spinal injury. Hopefully this will be of use to a user of this site in the future.
Our client, Ciaran, was aged 19. He had recently moved into his first home with his girlfriend. They both enjoyed travelling to Devon at the weekends to meet up with their families and Ciaran had strong affiliations with his local football club.
A few weeks prior to Christmas, Ciaran was travelling as a passenger in the rear of his fathers transit van. They were struck at considerable speed by an oncoming vehicle. The speed and force of the impact made avoiding the situation impossible. Ciaran impacted against the inside of the vehicle with extreme force and suffered a complete spinal cord injury at T5.
We were contacted by close family members after they had utilised our website to find out about our specialist legal services and range of help that we could provide. The family requested that we travelled to meet them to discuss further how we could help. We undertook a detailed description of our services at the family’s request. This took several hours due to the level of questions that they required answers to. After several days consultation amongst the family we were instructed to work on their behalf.
Within several days we received an admittance of liability from the insurers of the driver of the oncoming vehicle. We appointed a one-to-one case manager to undertake an assessment of the exact scope of Ciaran’s needs. Whilst undergoing rehabilitation at the Spinal Injury Centre, our legal team secured appropriate housing on behalf of Ciaran and his girlfriend. Further land was identified and subsequently purchased to ensure the property could be extended in order to house all of the new equipment required. This equipment included occupational therapy and rehabilitation machines. A specialised cutting-edge wheelchair was purchased, and an assessment of the exact usage pattern, ensured that this would be suitable for Ciaran’s needs.
Today, Ciaran and his girlfriend have moved into their new home and Ciaran has continued to undertake outdoor sporting courses as a result of the relationship that we hold with the Back-Up Trust.
Paul