How Victoria Martin Helped a Vulnerable Client with a Traumatic Brain Injury

The incident

Our client, a 77-year-old pedestrian, was struck by a car while crossing a dual carriageway (A4074) near the Crowmarsh Roundabout in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. The impact caused the client to flip onto the bonnet, hit the windscreen, and land on the road. The driver, in a moment of panic, fled the scene, leaving the client with no recollection of the accident and in need of extensive medical care.

Injuries and immediate action

As a result of the accident, our client sustained severe orthopaedic injuries (Grade 4 splenic laceration, damage to his bladder, fractured hips and pelvis, right open tibia/fibula fracture, left fibula fracture, right shoulder fracture along with dislocated fingers, abrasions and bruising to most of his body.  In addition, he also sustained a skull fracture with related damage to the brain resulting in a moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Following the accident, our client reached out to Serious Injury Law and Associate Chartered Legal Executive Victoria Martin handled the claim.

Due to the complexity of the injuries, the client lacked the capacity to manage his financial affairs and welfare. An urgent Court of Protection (COP) application was made to appoint a Professional Deputy (PD) to handle these matters.

Further complicating the case were safeguarding concerns regarding financial abuse, which made the PD appointment even more critical. To ensure the client’s well-being, a case manager was appointed to coordinate private and local authority care, along with necessary therapies. Over two years, approximately £170,000 was spent on case management, therapies and equipment, including a new shed for the client’s garden.

Impact on our client’s and his family’s life

When our client was discharged from the hospital, he faced an unexpected and heartbreaking reality. Unable to return to his own home, he moved in with his only accommodating relative, his son, who graciously opened his doors despite the significant impact it would have on his family.

To accommodate this, our client’s granddaughter had to leave the family home and stay with her other grandparents, so that her grandfather could have access to a bedroom and a downstairs toilet. This shift, though necessary, disrupted the family’s dynamic and placed emotional strain on everyone involved. With four children of his own, our client’s son found himself juggling the responsibilities of fatherhood while also becoming a primary caregiver to his injured father. The sudden and intense responsibility weighed heavily on him, often leading to feelings of being overwhelmed and strained family relations.

The emotional toll didn’t end there. Following the accident, the son grappled with intense anger and frustration toward the driver who had callously fled the scene, leaving his father injured on the road. This anger manifested in emotional phone calls and impassioned emails to our team.

Legal strategy and settlement

Given the client’s age and potential reduced life expectancy, the Serious Injury Law legal team, led by Victoria Martin, focused on gathering the most crucial evidence to expedite the case. Victoria and her team were able to secure the third-party details within two weeks of receiving instructions from the client to deal with the claim.

A Joint Settlement Meeting (JSM) was held less than two years post-accident, resulting in a settlement of £580,000, with an additional £20,000 allocated for ongoing rehabilitation.

Following Court Approval at the High Court in Manchester the matter has now been concluded.

The defendant’s account

The defendant, driving a Peugeot estate vehicle, claimed that the low sun glare required her to lower the sun visor, and she did not see the claimant before the collision. Upon hearing a bang and seeing the claimant lying on the road through the rear-view mirror, the defendant fled the scene in panic and drove home.

Looking ahead

Victoria Martin’s proactive approach in securing a Professional Deputy, managing the client’s care, and expediting evidence collection led to a successful outcome for our client. The substantial settlement will support our client’s ongoing rehabilitation and safeguard his financial interests, demonstrating the dedication and expertise of our legal team in handling complex personal injury cases.

Reflections

Reflecting on the conclusion of the claim, Victoria Martin stated that:

“The issue of liability or quantum was not particularly difficulty to establish in this matter,  however the needs of our client around case management and supportive therapies was probably one of the most challenging I have had to deal with due to the effects on our clients cognition caused by the TBI.  Balancing his needs and wishes alongside the relationships he had with his family also needed to be managed with consideration to ensure he retained some control over what he wanted whilst at the same time always being alert to how vulnerable he would continue to be.  Securing evidence to support the lack of capacity for litigation and managing his finances to apply for a Professional Deputy was a slow process due to the limited resources of the court and the time it takes for such applications to be processed.

Myself, Katie Rutter and Dale Bickerstaffe worked tirelessly over the last two years, on this matter to bring this matter to the conclusion we expect on the 24^th, often finding one or more of us working on the file most days for one reason or another.  This efficiency was certainly something that meant the matter was concluded far sooner than it might have been if the matter had been run solely by one fee earner.

I am so thrilled with the outcome for our client and his family.  He will have sufficient funds to ensure he can continue to pay for his daily support worker and some case management along with the continuing recommended therapies.  In addition, our client loves the local wildlife and due to having rely on his support workers to take him out daily he now looks forward to building a pond in his garden so that he can enjoy taking care of fish and watching the local wildlife from some very comfy garden furniture seating he intends to purchase.”

We’re here to help

If you or a loved one has experienced a life-changing injury and need compassionate, expert legal support, contact our team today. We’re here to guide you every step of the way.