In the summer of 2007, our client was in the garden of her privately rented property, when a paving slab collapsed beneath her foot, causing her to fall and land heavily on her left wrist. She was taken immediately to hospital and required manipulation and k-wires under anaesthetic. She continued to suffer with symptoms of pain, stiffness and tingling, with reduced mobility in her left hand. It was becoming apparent that our client was not able to properly open her left palm and in April 2008, underwent surgery to remedy this. Despite a significant number of medical investigations and rehabilitation treatment, she continued to struggle with a number of daily tasks and was eventually diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a very serious chronic pain condition.
Our client suffered constant pain in her left wrist, arm and hand, requiring a significant amount of care from her family with household chores and activities, and she could no longer work.
We were able to show that her landlord had known about the problem with the paving slab and failed to repair it. The accident caused the fracture of the left wrist, which had led to the CRPS and we were able to claim provision for ongoing rehabilitation in the form of occupational therapy and physiotherapy treatment, as well as the cost of aid and equipment and adaptations to her property, to allow her to undertake household tasks and cook for herself, and gain back some quality of life.
Liability was denied by the Defendant throughout this case, but we managed to obtain a 6 figure sum of compensation for our client.
Our comments:
Chronic pain conditions have their own difficulties, in that the individual is often questioned about their credibility and whether or not they are exaggerating the level of disability they are experiencing. Our client was videoed by the Defendant to try to show she was making up her symptoms.
As our client had received quite a significant amount of treatment from the appropriate medical practitioners via the NHS, we were able to show that she was genuine and suffering from this quite serious chronic pain disorder.
If you have any questions about the above or require any further information, please contact the one of the team on 01483 543210.
