Boyes Turner’s personal injury claims solicitors secured a £137,515 compensation settlement for a client in her sixties who suffered ankle injuries when she was hit by a car in a supermarket car park. Our client had collected a trolley and was hit by the defendant driver’s car as she stood up after picking up an item that she had dropped. The impact of the collision knocked her to the ground. The police and ambulance service were called and she was taken by ambulance to hospital, where a scan revealed that she had suffered a trimalleolar displaced fracture (involving three broken bones) to her ankle and dislocation with syndesmotic disruption (high ankle sprain affecting the ligaments which connect the tibia and fibula bones). This type of injury is caused by a twisting and pulling outwards injury which causes fractures of the bones, tearing of the ligaments and dislocation of the ankle. Our client needed surgical reduction and internal fixation of the ankle using screws and plates to hold her ankle in alignment. She has been left with scars from the surgery. After discharge from hospital, our client remained bedbound and could not put weight on her foot or walk for six weeks. During this time, she relied on care and assistance from family members. She needed a Zimmer frame and two crutches to mobilise and was restricted to the upstairs area of her home as she couldn’t get up or down the stairs safely. She suffered from constant pain, spasms and ankle swelling as well as numbness and difficulty mobilising. Virtual physiotherapy and home exercises didn’t ease her pain. She needed antidepressants to help her sleep at night and was referred to a pain clinic which recommended anti-epileptic medication to block the pain. She suffered a psychological injury, including PTSD and mild depression. Interim payment helps pay for rehabilitation Our client contacted us a few weeks after the accident and we helped her claim compensation for her injury and financial losses from the driver’s insurers. We secured an admission of liability (responsibility). An interim payment paid for extensive private physiotherapy which helped increase her walking and mobility, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which reduced the severity of her psychological symptoms. Out-of-court settlement The driver’s insurers made an initial settlement offer of £75,000, which we advised our client not to accept whilst we investigated the full impact of her injury. We obtained updated reports from our medical experts, who advised that our client will probably need fusion and/or ankle replacement surgery and specialist orthotics in future owing to post-traumatic arthritis in the ankle. We prepared a schedule of loss which included our client’s claim for loss of earnings and pension as a result of her phased return to lower grade work within the NHS than she was able to perform before the accident. Once our investigations were complete, we served a schedule of our client’s losses and updating medical evidence on the defendant’s insurers and invited them to discuss proposals for settlement. The case concluded with an out-of-court settlement of £137,515 for our client. If you have been seriously injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault, and you would like to find out more about funded rehabilitation or making a claim, you can talk to one of our experienced solicitors, free and confidentially, by contacting us here.
