When a lack of oxygen causes brain injury in children during sport
- 16.11.2015
- JeremySmith
- None
Here are two judgments in two tragic cases. One involves a ten year old child [1] and in the other a 17 year old footballer [2], both of whom suffered catastrophic brain injury through being deprived of oxygen. Sadly these are the type of cases that we at PotterReesDolan deal with on a regular basis.
Annie Woodland suffered a severe brain injury at the age of ten after she got into difficulties during a school swimming lesson. Neither the swimming teacher nor the lifeguard noticed until after she had taken in water and stopped breathing. The case has taken many years to get this stage as the legal process has been very complicated.
The local education authority (LEA) had engaged an independent contractor to provide the lessons, and this contractor employed both the swimming teacher and the lifeguard. However they were not insured and could not pay the very substantial damages to which Annie should be entitled. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the local education authority owed Annie a duty to take care of her in school swimming lessons which they could not delegate to someone else. The Council would therefore have to pay compensation if liability were to be established.
Annie has now succeeded in proving liability for the failures on the part of the swimming teacher and the lifeguard. The amount of her compensation has still to be established but she will now be able to obtain the very substantial damages to pay for the care and other needs that she has as a result of this terrible accident.
The other case involves a 17 year old footballer who suffered a cardiac arrest during a match, resulting in catastrophic brain damage. Radwan Hamed was an extremely gifted and dedicated footballer, who had been associated with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club since the age of eleven.
In 2005 he had a routine ECG which showed an abnormal result suggestive of underlying heart disease but this was never followed up. Then, while playing for the Club’s youth team in Belgium, he suffered a cardiac arrest which resulted in catastrophic brain damage. Both the club’s doctor and a consultant cardiologist who carried out the screening were held to be negligent for failing to warn Radwan that he was at risk. The club’s doctor was held to be 70% liable and the cardiologist 30%.
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[1] Woodland v Maxwell and Essex County Council [2015] EWHC 273 (QB)
[2] Hamed v Mills, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and others[2015] EWHC 298 (QB)