Woman from Solihull obtains compensation for birth injuries suffered 37 years ago

Posted 30/11/2009

The Approval Hearing in the case of Helen Walker, a 37 year old Solihull woman, is being heard today in the Royal Courts of Justice in London. She is seeking the Court’s approval for a negotiated award of damages worth several millions of pounds in compensation for the injuries she suffered at birth which have resulted in the need for her to receive constant care and supervision for the rest of her life.

Helen was born in July 1972 at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital after a very prolonged delivery. Helen is now 37 and still lives at home with her parents.

The family’s solicitor is Tom Cook, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal Solicitors. He explains:

“Helen is a happy young woman given her circumstances, and her family love her and look after her very well. She attends a day centre, but specialist care of the kind she needs and which might make a difference to her quality of life is extremely expensive. Our claim against the hospital seeks to provide a financial settlement which will provide for her future. Her parents are aware that the time will eventually come when they won’t be there to look after her and they are concerned to ensure that her future is secure.

Accordingly the award is mainly to be paid in annual instalments for the rest of her life. Its actual value will depend on how long she lives but her support needs should be met in the meantime.

Although claims like Helen’s are now more commonly brought when the injured party is still a child, there are still parents out there who have committed their lives to looking after a brain injured son or daughter, perhaps not realising that they can still get help. The commonly publicised time limit for bringing any sort of injury claim in the UK is three years, but where the injured party was a child who as a result of their injury does not have mental capacity then there is no time limit”.