A permanently paralysed girl has secured the highest ever court-approved settlement for a spinal cord injury after taking the unusual step of suing her mother.
EA, who is nine, will receive more than £12m in the settlement, partly as a lump sum and partly in annual payments. Mr Justice Eady approved the settlement in the High Court last week.
EA was a passenger in her mother’s car when it was in a collision with a Royal Mail delivery lorry in 2004. Following the issue of High Court proceedings, she secured interim payments of more than £1.5m from her mother’s insurers and was able to pay for a suitable bungalow in west London and a team of full-time carers.
She has now returned to mainstream schooling, but is paralysed and dependent on a ventilator to breathe.
Warren Collins, partner at Davies Arnold Cooper, who represented EA, says that even though this may be a very large settlement, it is by no means a “lottery win”.
“The money awarded simply relates to financial losses and future needs. The settlement will mean that EA no longer has to rely upon the state to fund her very expensive care and equipment needs. The damages assessed for her actual injuries are limited by law,” he adds.
For more on this see: www.newlawjournal.co.uk.
