Our client was seven years old at the time of the accident. She was walking along a wall in a park when she tripped and caught her knee on a metal bracket protruding from a brick wall. She suffered a laceration and pain to her right knee.
As the days went on, our client developed a sore throat, and her knee became inflamed; she was suffering with lethargy and fever, so her mother took her to a walk-in centre where she was referred to hospital and was admitted. The doctors suspected an infection, and our client was quickly diagnosed with septic arthritis. She was admitted and underwent two procedures for knee wash-out. She also developed pneumonia and needed to be admitted to the intensive care unit for one day. Thankfully she made a good recovery and after a total of six days, was discharged from hospital with one crutch to help her walk. She was also generally weak and anxious as she recovered further and was absent from school for two weeks.
Our client initially limped when walking and could not run due to the injury to her knee, however this resolved over time. She suffered from pain to her knee and had problems walking at times and could not take part in PE lessons. She also had psychological symptoms of anxiety which affected her sleep.
Our client was left with three permanent scars to her right knee however she had no functional difficulties. Due to the serious nature of the injuries suffered multiple expert reports were obtained and an MRI scan was arranged to check for any long-term effects of the infection. The orthopaedic expert was satisfied with the results and of the opinion that our client’s accident-related symptoms had resolved within 18 months of the accident. Reports were also obtained from a clinical psychologist and plastic surgeon in relation to our client’s psychological injuries and scarring.
The claim was brought by our client’s mother as litigation friend. Liability was admitted by the defendant, but the value of the claim was heavily disputed. The parties could not agree a settlement before trial therefore a court hearing went ahead in respect of the correct level of damages. The Judge found in favour of our client and awarded £25,174 taking into account the serious nature of the injury suffered. This was over £10,000 more than had previously been offered by the defendant, so an excellent result for our client.