Ashley Banwell, an internationally renowned bird watcher, sustained life-changing injuries in an accident at work in March 2022. Stewarts helped Ashley secure a seven-figure settlement following his serious injury claim.
Personal Injury partner Perry Redgrave and associate Shannon Maude acted for Ashley with the support of Alexandra Said, paralegal.
The accident
Ashley was injured in an accident at work in March 2022. He was working as a part of a road maintenance team when the bucket of a digger truck being operated by a colleague struck his lower right leg.
Ashley was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital by ambulance, where he underwent multiple surgeries before electing to have a below-knee amputation as there were no prospects of saving the limb.
The claim
Ashley instructed Stewarts to act on his behalf at an early stage, allowing his legal team to provide early notification of the claim to the defendants.
The parties sought to work collaboratively and obtained significant interim funding throughout the case. This funded private rehabilitation, a property purchase and, most importantly, private prosthetics through Dorset Orthopaedic in Amersham.
Ashley was seen by a wide range of medical and non-medical experts who were instructed by both parties to produce reports outlining their opinions on various aspects of the case, including prosthetics, care, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychiatry, transport and accommodation.
The parties attended a joint settlement meeting in February 2024. Stuart McKechnie KC of Deka Chambers was instructed on Ashley’s behalf, and Andrew Davis KC of Crown Office Chambers was instructed on behalf of the defendant. The meeting was long but successful, and Stewarts secured a substantial seven-figure settlement for Ashley.
The settlement award ensures that Ashley has the financial security to live the rest of his life to his full potential. It will allow him to purchase the most advanced prosthetics and an adapted vehicle and access medical treatments recommended by his therapy team when required.
Rehabilitation and hobbies
Ashley has returned to an extraordinary level of function and has done extremely well with his prosthetic rehabilitation. He uses his prosthesis daily for long periods, factoring in daily prosthetic downtime.
Before the accident, Ashley was an active individual and a keen ornithologist. His passion for birding has resulted in him becoming internationally known. He would often travel on his own to places that most people would not attempt in pursuit of finding the most difficult species. He has his own website and an eBird account that he uses to record his travels and observations of species worldwide. A map highlighting the places Ashley has travelled to for his birding is shown below. This shows that he has spotted 7,549 species to date, 1,085 of which have been found in Brazil alone.
Ashley was determined not to let his injuries change his birding activity. With funding and appropriate support in place, he returned to travelling to far-flung quarters of the world in pursuit of his passion for birding. He has travelled to Indonesia, Brazil, India, Peru, Ecuador and New Zealand since his accident. These trips are physically and emotionally demanding, and the paid support of fellow birders was crucial in enabling him to return to his much-loved hobby.
The additional cost of Ashley’s birding trips for the remainder of his life was a highly contentious aspect of his case. He had always intended to continue travelling all over the world for his birding until he was physically unable to do so. However, he now accepts that he might need to move to less arduous trips that do not involve trekking through rainforests, jungles and up mountains at an earlier age, potentially in his mid-seventies.
So that he can achieve this, he needs someone to accompany him to provide support, including carrying heavy birding equipment and providing physical assistance over the more difficult terrain. He also requires business class flights to provide sufficient space to remove his prosthesis and rest his limb during the flight to limit excessive swelling and pain. The settlement achieved will enable Ashley to cover these additional costs and allow him to continue birding.
Life beyond injury
Ashley is enjoying his life post-injury and post-litigation. He is eagerly awaiting the completion of adaptation works to his new property and has purchased a suitable automatic vehicle with a left flip accelerator.
He is continuing to pursue his passion for birding abroad. He has just returned from travelling to Tanzania and plans to return to Brazil before the end of the year.
Testimonials
Ashley Banwell said: “It was such a reassurance having Perry and the team at Stewarts assist me so soon after my accident, providing me with excellent advice and support to ensure that I got the best possible rehabilitation, including access to a case manager, support worker, suitably adapted hire vehicle, therapy team and prosthetists. The purchase of a suitable home and a fantastic settlement, with the aid of Stuart McKechnie KC, will crucially allow me to continue my passion for worldwide birding while using the best possible prosthetics for the rest of my life.
“I would not be where I am today without their help and support. Perry was able to secure all of this for me without the stress of going to court due to his good working relationship with AXA, the insurer on the case. I can’t recommend Perry highly enough to anyone else who sustains a terrible injury like I did.”
Stuart McKechnie KC said: “I am delighted to have helped achieve this outcome for Ashley, who now has the funds to pay for the best possible prosthetic provision and can continue to live out an active life with funding to make regular trips around the world.”
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