The Facts

We were instructed by the parents of Thomas* who suffers with Cerebral Palsy.  He lives with his devoted parents and younger sibling.

Thomas suffered brain damage when he was being born.

He is confined to a wheelchair. He cannot talk. He cannot eat and drink like you and I. He has to be fed through his stomach. He has very little control over his limbs which don’t do what he wants them to do.

To communicate, he can make sounds and show how he feels by his facial expressions. This is fine with his immediate family but with those who don’t know Thomas as well, they find it very difficult to communicate with him and Thomas finds this very frustrating.

What is particularly tragic is that had Thomas been born sooner by caesarean section, he would have developed into a normal boy. Those looking after his mum during labour didn’t appreciate that Thomas wasn’t coping well with the labour and needed to be born as soon as possible.

Although Thomas goes to a school which looks after his needs, his parents had the burden of caring for him otherwise, all of the time, often with little sleep as he would frequently wake in the night – this was despite Thomas’s parents seeking help from their Local Authority.

The Settlement

Thomas’s parents were concerned about Thomas’s delivery and approached us for advice.  Sadly, the cerebral palsy claim was defended but eventually, the Hospital in question conceded that Thomas was damaged as a result of their fault. In other words, the Hospital admitted liability and causation and on the back of that, we obtained a formal Judgment from the court.

Then came the task of assessing what Thomas’s needs for life were going to be and costing this up – to ensure those looking after him have enough money to give him the best quality of life possible which includes around-the-clock high quality professional care; in his own specially adapted home with his family.

To do this, we sought advice from experts in paediatric neurology, care, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, accommodation and assistive technology.

We also obtained some of Thomas’s money up-front so that care and therapies could get under way.  We also obtained a lump sum which purchased a bungalow for Thomas to live with his family and carers.With room for Thomas to have his therapies, and adaptations to enable him to move around in a specially adapted wheelchair using Eye-Gaze technology, we discovered that Thomas had control over his eye movements and this ability was utilised to improve Thomas’s communication and independence.

The compensation secured at the end of the case paid for:-

• His injury and the impact this had and will have on his life;
• Past care costs incurred up to the time that the settlement was secured (this is care provided by his family over and above that which would have been given to an unscathed child – Thomas’s parents received payment for that care);
• Around the clock care for life;
• Accommodation;
• Aids and equipment;
• Loss of future earnings;
• Assistive technology (including communication equipment);
• Therapies including: Speech and Language; Physiotherapy; Psychotherapy; and Occupational Therapy; and
• Future holidays and travel

The family are extremely pleased with the result; and it allows them to plan for the future.

Julia Hurlbut, acting Solicitor for Thomas and his parents, commented:

“The family struggled for a long time with very little state assistance; the dedication and selfless care for their son is very humbling. Although the case was heavily defended, we fought on and succeeded in obtaining an admission of fault and damages which means that the parents are safe in the knowledge that they should never want for all that he needs to have a safe and fulfilling life.”