MA was a husband, and father of two teenage children. Although he had not worked for many years due to a number of medical complaints, he was an active member of his local community and enjoyed socialising, watching cricket, buying and selling cars as a hobby, and walking to maintain his fitness.

MA was a pedestrian, who was aged 45 at the time of the accident. He was struck at speed by a vehicle being driven by the defendant whilst walking on the pavement on 29 October 2015. As a consequence of the accident, MA required a traumatic through-knee amputation on his right leg and sustained a medial malleolus fracture to his left leg, which required surgical fixation. MA underwent further surgery in 2017 to remove the metalwork in his left leg.

Liability was admitted in full for the accident and the defendant was convicted of driving without due care and attention contrary to section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

MA had not worked for over 20 years prior to the accident. The expert evidence concluded that MA would not have returned to paid work had the accident not occurred.

Although the injuries that MA sustained did not have an impact on his future life expectancy, the settlement negotiations included complex arguments regarding medical causation due to his pre-existing conditions. These included asthma, epilepsy, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, bowel cancer, polyposis and raised cholesterol, all of which had an impact on the amount of his claim. The conditions had a significant impact on his life expectancy and, in turn, the assessment of care needs.

Prior to settlement, MA had trialled various prosthetic limbs including the Kenevo and Genium microprocessor knees. It was considered that the Genium was appropriate and this was purchased with interim funding. The Genium limb enabled him to regain his independence, giving him the ability to walk longer distances than he achieved with the NHS prescribed prosthesis. This meant that he could improve his general fitness levels by training at his local gym with the input of a personal trainer and private physiotherapy treatment.

The claim settled after the issue of court proceedings and the final settlement included provision for a number of adaptions, specialist equipment and care provisions. This included suitable single level accommodation for the family to move to, specially adapted transport, as well as the future cost of care and case management, equipment, physiotherapy, psychological therapy and prosthetic treatment.

The claim settled for £1.8 million and during the claim MA received interim payments of £188,000. The value of the case was enhanced by securing a state of the art Genium prosthetic for MA.

MA also suffered psychological injury, including adjustment disorder, for which he greatly benefited from psychological therapy. This treatment coupled with suitable prosthetic limbs, medical treatment and an adapted vehicle enabled him to regain his independence and maximise his rehabilitation.

Prior to the accident, MA lived in a rental property with his wife and two teenage children and received housing benefit. Following receipt of his first interim payment, a personal injury trust was set up to ensure that he continued to be eligible for means tested benefits.

Testimonial from MA:

“I have been impressed by Stewarts and the way everything was coordinated. They planned everything and kept me informed and were in touch with my case manager throughout.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen with the legal process and also with my own personal situation following the accident, but Nichola really listened to all my questions and I felt very reassured. The reassurance really gave me a boost.

“This has been a difficult time for me, but it’s made my life easier having Stewarts there and it allowed me to focus on my rehab. They gave me tailored advice, rather than just quoting a book at me. Nichola has been excellent”

You can find further information regarding our expertise, experience and team on our Personal Injury pages.

If you require assistance from our team, please contact us or alternatively request a call back from one of our lawyers by submitting this form.

We have teamed up with other clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries to also tell their stories. Please visit the Life Beyond Injury webpage to see their stories.

We hope that by sharing these stories, newly injured people can see that with the right support they too can overcome adversity to lead full and active lives.

Please feel free to share our films. You can join in the conversation and share your stories of overcoming adversity to lead a fulfilling life beyond injury:

On Twitter, using the hashtag #lifebeyondinjury.

Or on Facebook, using the same #lifebeyondinjury hashtag.

Media contact: Lydia Buckingham, Senior Marketing Executive, +44 (0) 20 7822 8134, lbuckingham@stewartslaw.com