[Hoanui]

I got on the bus (Wednesday) to come home from doing some food shopping and the driver who appeared to be in a foul mood angrily 'thumbed' me to sit down. He lurched the bus forward as he drew away and sent me flying down the aisle of the bus slamming me into upright hand rails. Passengers as well as myself roared at the driver for his idiocy and he carried on his way driving very carefully and slowly but said nothing. When we got back home I asked for his name - 'Dick, and Dick's my lawyers name too!' he said....

I have made several quiet phone calls to his head office and I await their pleasure. Luckily there were several local witnesses on board at the time. My back is killing me, I wet myself when I stood up to leave the bus; I'm as embarrassed as f*ck because this hasn't happened to me before, my right leg is more numb as are my arms (hurt like hell), my head hurts like a bitch and I had to get my doctor to make a house call.

Do you think in your experience, I can make a claim considering I had an existing sci?

[AndrewB]

CALL A ATTORNEY A.S.A.P screw those city a holes.

[Hapahowlee]

Absolutely!!! I hope you have the names and contact info for the witnesses. How dare that driver do such a careless, idiotic thing. He placed you and others in danger, deliberately.

I don't know how cases in the UK go, but in the U.S. personal injury suits are easy and usually settled w/o having a trial. Keep receipts and be sure you document everything. I've been hit while in my car so many times, but only had a need to obtain an attorney for one, which was a pretty bad accident that was not my fault and the man who hit me didn't seem concerned about how badly I was hurt. I obtained an attorney as a safety net.

My husband was hit by some high school kids who were drinking and driving. He was stopped going downhill and they were rapidly going uphill and didn't bother to stop. His knee got messed up pretty badly from the hand control being jammed straight on and was very sore for a long time. He had an attorney working on a different issue and when he heard about the accident, he went after the insurance company for the high school kid.

My husband tried to be cool about it and warned the kids b/c they had a case of beer in their possession. An ambulance needed to be called and the police would show up for sure. A couple of kids took the beer in the woods and stashed it and when everyone showed up the kids tried to say it was my husband's fault. My husband told the officer where the kids stashed their beer, especially since it was obvious these kids were stoned. This case hardly took any extra effort to process, it was just a huge hassle for my husband who was w/o his van that was being repaired and had to go to the hospital and do PT for a few months b/c of his knee, leg and back problems. So this was about 5 years post SCI injury and he won the case - no problem.

You shouldn't have any problems as long as you have records to show you were treated after the accident and your symptoms were worse due to this driver's abuse of the vehicle he should have been driving responsibly. Good luck.

[Paul Breen]

Hi there,

As with all cases, if possible it is best to speak with a reputable law firm regarding your situation as soon as possible. If you do have a case, the sooner a lawyer is instructed, the more help he or she can provide. You do not state the type of SCI you had prior to the incident, but this would not prevent you from bringing a claim.

Paul

[Hoanui]

Paul Breen, on Dec 8 2008, 02:07 PM, said:

Hi there,

As with all cases, if possible it is best to speak with a reputable law firm regarding your situation as soon as possible. If you do have a case, the sooner a lawyer is instructed, the more help he or she can provide. You do not state the type of SCI you had prior to the incident, but this would not prevent you from bringing a claim.

Paul

Since the law changed regarding compensation with sex abuse victims (in the UK) i.e. if the abuse was 20+ years ago, for example, the victims are entitled to compensation. Since my condition was caused by an attack my lawyer is going to try for extra compensation since my condition wasn't immediately apparent after the attack. My surgeon is willing to testify that the attack at least contributed to my SCI. The day the incident happened I had the Dr visit my house and have needed treatment several times since. I have an MRI this Thursday so we'll see what's what. I also need to use my walking sticks again.

I have approached the witnesses who were on the bus that day and despite knowing that 99% of them are staunch Christians NOT ONE wants anything to do with it; they want no involvement whatsoever. So, who knows where this is going to go but I'll keep you informed especially about the retrograde award of compensation.

I've been desperately depressed in the past couple of weeks but I seem to have come out of that period now. Maybe it's due to the valium to help with spasms! lol

This post has been edited by Hoanui: 12 January 2009 - 10:20 AM