Over £35.2 million secured for 17-year-old living with disability due to birth injury.

Our client was his mother’s first child and early on during the pregnancy there were concerns related to a possible miscarriage. By the time our client’s mother began to go into labour on 5^th September 2007, our client’s heart rate was very high and his mother was therefore kept in hospital. Following a fetal scalp blood test in the early hours of the next day, our client’s mother was rushed into theatre for a caesarean section.

Our client was born on 6^th September 2007 in a very poor condition. There were two loops of umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and a “true knot” in the cord. As a result he was exposed to a prolonged period of chronic partial asphyxia and went on to experience an episode of hypoglycaemia in the hours following his birth.

As a result of these complications during his birth, our client has cerebral palsy and the associated difficulties of microcephaly, developmental delay, visual impairment, language impairment, intellectual disability, autism and behavioural issues. Additionally our client has epilepsy and a sensory processing disorder.

As our client approaches adulthood, his significant behavioural issues have been increasingly apparent. He is incapable of occupying or looking after himself, he will never be able to work, he lacks capacity to manage his property and affairs and will require lifelong support, and he will require two experienced carers at all times.

As part of the claim we alleged that, but for the failures, he would have been uninjured and would have been entirely healthy.

It was eventually admitted that there were multiple failures during our client’s birth, including that had he been delivered by midnight, he would have avoided his injuries.

Court proceedings were put on hold so that our client could reach maturity and his needs could be properly assessed. In the meantime, RWK Goodman assisted our client in obtaining funds to purchase a “forever home” so that all of his needs could be met. Eventually, following a stabilisation in our client’s condition, the claim was restarted.

The claim settled shortly before trial in January 2024. The case was heavily disputed, with main points of contention being the award for future care, occupational therapy and life expectancy.