Man suffers head injury and is partially paralysed after attack

The delay in a CT scan at the hospital resulted in severe brain damage and partial paralysis of a man who was attacked.

Andy, aged 50, was a painter and decorator and living in North Wales. He was attacked and suffered a very bad head injury. He was taken to his local A&E and was admitted to hospital but they did not realise the extent of his injuries and failed to observe him properly or send him for a CT scan.

He had suffered a bleed on his brain and by the 2nd July the pressure had grown to such an extent that he lost consciousness and he suffered a stroke.

Andy was then transferred to a local neurosurgical unit for a lifesaving operation, but this decision was taken too late and as a result he was left with severe brain damage.

Andy requires round the clock care, has speech, behavioural and memory problems, is paralysed down one side of his body and is doubly incontinent. He has lived in a nursing home since then.

Ten years after the original incident, Potter Rees Dolan was asked to investigate Andy’s case.

We felt the hospital had provided a seriously substandard level of care. Although they strongly defended our arguments, we were ultimately successful in obtaining significant damages for Andy.

We applied for an interim payment of compensation which enabled Andy to move out of the nursing home into a rented property with his own team of professional carers. This gave Andy some independence for the first time in over 10 years.

His case settled for a lump sum of just over £1.4 million with an additional annual payment of £182,500 for life to provide for Andy’s 24 hour care needs.

Helen Dolan acted for Andy and commented:

This was a really interesting case as Andy had been in an institution for so long. It was a challenge and a pleasure to help him get into his own property with his own carers.