Record compensation for brain injured child
Our client gave birth to first child in 2005. Her pregnancy was uncomplicated and she went into spontaneous labour. All appeared to be going well until her baby’s heart rate started to decrease. Our client had been in the hospital for a number of hours but the baby was not moving down the birth canal. Her baby was in distress and needed to be delivered. Finally the decision was made that our client would need to have an emergency caesarean section. However the doctor involved in her care waited for more than an hour before carrying out the caesarean section.
The baby was born in very poor condition and was immediately taken to the Special Care Baby Unit. She was ventilated and given medication. Her parents were told that there was a near total loss of oxygen to the baby before her delivery. The baby was diagnosed with cerebral palsy (severe spastic quadriplegia involving all four limbs). She has since also been diagnosed with significant visual impairment, epilepsy, and severe cognitive impairment. The baby is entirely tube fed and she cannot hold her head upright for more than 30 seconds and her hand control is poor.
Had the hospital Trust performed the caesarean section earlier the baby would not have had any of these problems.
The Trust involved in the child’s delivery finally admitted liability for the delay in delivering her and there was then a long battle with them to determine the compensation that should be awarded to the baby.
In the first few years of her life the baby suffered from numerous health problems. Her parents struggled to get support from the local authority and fought continuously to get the best for their daughter.
Once the Trust admitted their mistake we were able to obtain some money from them as an interim payment. The money was used to find suitable accommodation for the baby and to put a full care programme in place for her.
The baby was so unwell that it was thought that she would not live beyond the age of 17 however her parents introduced a proactive approach to her care. They employed nurses to help look after their daughter and they set up procedures and routines that meant that as soon as something seemed to be going wrong they could address it immediately.
Due to her parents approach the baby’s health started to improve and with that her ability to interact and respond to others and her environment. The baby seemed happier and showed obvious enjoyment in the company of her family. She was able to smile responsively to music and hydrotherapy and now attends a specialist school receiving one to one attention.
This improvement in the child’s health meant that she is expected to live a much longer life than originally thought possible.
However the child will continue to need 24 hour care for the rest of her life provided by trained nursing staff.
After a long fought battle we were able to reach a settlement in this case and the following financial award was agreed.
- A lump sum of £2,843,748
- From 2011 – 2016 she will receive an annual award of £268,000
- From 2017 – 2023 she will receive an annual award of £321,000
- From 2024 – 2026 she will receive an annual award of £371,573
- From 2027 for the rest of her life she will receive an annual award of £387,573
The capitalised value of this claim is in excess of £8million.
Whilst this is a phenomenal result, the child’s parents want to ensure that lessons are learnt from what happened to their child. It is imperative that decisions are made at the appropriate times and that all steps are carried out to prevent these tragic instances from occurring.
This financial award will hopefully make life easier for the child and will allow her parents to continue with their proactive approach which has made such a significant difference to her life.