On the 25th of January 2012 the plaintiff developed a stabbing pain in the left side of her head and when she bent over to dry her dog. With the pain continued for a while and the plaintiff’s husband called an ambulance.
The plaintiff and her husband resided on Lamb Island and as a result the ambulance had to come from another nearby island. The plaintiff was put on a stretcher and taken down to the docks where she was to be loaded on a boat and taken to the mainland. In the process of unloading her from the ambulance in an attempt to put her on the boat the stretcher upon which she was lying did not engage properly.
The paramedic realised that he did not hear the second set of legs click into place and knew something was not right. In attempt fix the issue paramedic has dropped stretcher, which at the time was half in and half out of the ambulance, causing the plaintiff to fall a small distance until the stretcher was caught by the bumper of the ambulance.
The plaintiff said she sustained injuries to her neck and has aggravated pre-existing arthritis in her shoulders as a result of this jolt.
The plaintiff was a 66-year-old woman at the time of the accident she complained that she had been left with considerable pain in her back and neck which was worse than anything she had had before the accident.
Further to this as a result of the amount of pain which she was in the plaintiff was depressed, upset and cried a lot. She required heavy medication for both pain and her psychological injuries.
His Honour found that as a result of the accident there was a stirring up of her pre-existing arthritis and degenerative changes in her spine. His Honour also found that the plaintiff was somebody who handles pain badly and in this way the pain was more severe than with most other people’s pain. He further noted that this is contributing to her mental illness and that once the court trial is over she might adjust to living with the pain and her psychological injuries will reduce.
Upon review of the evidence His Honour made a judgement in favour of the Plaintiff in the amount of $557,669.79, with over 60% of this amount being due to the future care requirements of the Plaintiff.
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