Alex was 22 years old and at his first work Christmas party the day he had his accident. He had been drinking most of the evening along with his work friends so had not brought his car out but instead, accepted a lift from a friend of a friend that had not been at the party with them but offered to pick them up. Alex didn’t know that the friend had also been drinking that night. The journey didn’t last too long as soon after getting on the main road, the driver who was exceeding the speed limit and changing lanes recklessly lost control of the car, driving it off the road and straight into a tree. The crash was bad, resulting in one of the passengers sitting in the back dying instantly and Alex getting catastrophically injured.
Catastrophic injuries can be life changing
Alex’s injuries were very extensive as he sustained permanent spinal cord injuries resulting in tetraplegia, paralysis of both arms and legs. He also suffered injuries to his bladder and autonomic dysreflexia which is a serious condition that elevates blood pressure, dropping one’s heartbeat putting them at high risk of strokes or cardiac arrests.
When Alex asked us to represent him, we made a claim against the driver’s insurer who argued that Alex was partly liable for what happened to him as he was not wearing his seatbelt and accepted to get into the driver’s car in the first place. We argued that Alex had not been out with the driver and had no knowledge that he had been drinking. Despite Alex not wearing his seatbelt, something that could have potentially avoided the serious injuries, and the argument that he knew the driver had been drinking, we settled on a 72.5% – 27>5% liability in Alex’s favour.
Even though this incident meant that Alex would never be able to return to his previous work or the activities he loved doing before it happened, he kept a smile on his face as he did not want to let it ruin his life. He was very grateful to be alive and we were on his side to ensure we could enable him to live the fullest life possible adjusting to his new reality.
We had to speak to multiple experts to understand what life could have been like if the incident had not happened. Alex was still at the very early stages of his career but had completed his education with high praise and was already being noticed at work so expectations were he would have led a successful career. We also needed to understand what his needs were likely to be in the future and what additional support we could put in place to allow him to pick up some of the hobbies and activities he had enjoyed when being able bodied.
The case settled for over £10 million
When the case finally settled, we secured over £10 million for Alex. That money would enable him to buy an adapted house, ensure he could have 24/7 support at home and outside and to live as independently as possible. A significant sum of money went into purchasing assistive technologies to help Alex manage aspects of his injury that affect the way he can interact with his environment.
We are specialist road traffic accident solicitors
Our specialist road accident solicitors help people involved in serious injury collisions that were not their fault to move forward with their lives. Find out more information at Road Traffic Accidents or Contact Us to speak with someone.
