£6m secured for client injured through medical negligence

Damian Horan and Anna West from Aspire Law have successfully secured a significant seven-figure settlement for a client who suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury following a failure by the Defendant NHS Trust to identify a disc prolapse at her T8/9 causing catastrophic spinal compression.

Our client approached Aspire Law’s dedicated spinal cord injury solicitors to investigate the circumstances surrounding the damage caused to her spinal cord.

The Case History

We began by investigating the history of our client’s symptoms and her presentation to various medical professionals at the time prior to her injury.

Our initial investigation found that our client suffered from extensive and complex pre-existing health conditions which we carefully considered. With continued investigations, we found that our client had presented to her GP with weakness, numbness and a tingling sensation in her legs. Her records showed that an MRI scan at the Defendant’s hospital was arranged shortly after. Despite this imaging being undertaken, our client still sustained a spinal cord injury.

We obtained reports from leading experts in the fields of neurosurgery, radiology and spinal cord rehabilitation to provide their opinions on our findings. Our suspicions were confirmed following expert input. Unfortunately, despite the swift arrangement of an MRI, a failure on the part of the radiographer at the time meant that the disc prolapse was not identified on the MRI. Our client’s condition deteriorated, and her concerns continued to be dismissed by medical professionals. When the cause of our client’s condition was identified nearly a year later, it was too late for surgery to undo the damage which had already been caused by continued compression of her spinal cord.

Going through the history of events with our client was an inevitably stressful, and at times upsetting, experience for her. With our team’s calm and empathetic approach, our client was able to provide her side of the story and come to terms with the legal opinion reached by Aspire Law. Had the prolapse been correctly identified on the imaging, our client would have undergone surgery swiftly to perform a discectomy and spinal decompression. Had this occurred, our client would have likely avoided permanent damage to her spinal cord and would have retained her previous degree of function.

Our team is dedicated to delivering expert legal knowledge in the field of spinal cord injury against a background of compassion and sensitivity. We understand that every client at Aspire Law is unique. In this case, when our client first approached us, she was understandably very anxious and hesitant. We began our investigations, developed our client’s legal argument and with our first-class knowledge, we were able to secure an admission of liability from the Defendant. With our calm and empathetic approach, we were able to guide our client through the complex process of establishing liability and move swiftly on to the subsequent valuation of her claim. Whenever additional emotional support was required, we could be counted on to be there.

The future

Our client is now aged 65 and has been left permanently disabled because of the admitted negligence. With her compensation, our client is now able to arrange a specialist 24-hour care package to help with her daily needs, purchase and adapt appropriate accommodation for her long-term needs, engage in rehabilitation and purchase the necessary aids and equipment.