Blind man wins claim following paralysing fall
Posted: August 30, 2015
Posted in: Personal Injury Spine & Back Injuries
A man from County Down in Northern Ireland has sued his friends after falling from a window in their home in 2010. 39-year-old Mark Pollock was left paralysed after the 25ft fall, making him wheelchair-bound and dependent on external care. He became blind at the age of 22, and blamed his friends for having left the window open considering his lack of eyesight.
Enda and Madeline Cahill rejected all accountability following the fall. The judge at the High Court in London, however, ruled that the open window did pose an obvious risk for a blind person, especially on the second storey of a house with nothing to prevent a fall from happening.
“it is prohibitively expensive”
Mr Cahill said that he had “expressly limited [his] claim for damages”, putting a £2m cap on the Cahils’ insurance policy. He stated that in no way did he want his friends to pay him personally following the injury, but did say that the compensation was only a fraction of the financial costs he now faces as a result of the fall. Mr Pollock said: “Spinal cord injury is described as a catastrophic injury because not only is it horrific for its physical and life-altering aspects, it is also prohibitively expensive.”
Since becoming blind in 1998, he has won bronze and silver medals for rowing at the Commonwealth Games (2002), was the first blind person to trek the South Pole, and has also competed in a number of ultra-marathons and extreme boat races.
If you have suffered paralysis through no fault of your own, and are looking to claim compensation, please contact us.
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