Suffering personal injury can be a traumatic experience and many people count themselves unlucky if they experience one or two major accidents in their lives. However, one man from Ireland seems to have taken misfortune to a new level.
According to a report in the Irish Independent, engineer Seamus O’Donnell has been involved in a total of eight accidents already, despite only being 28 years old. Seven of these incidents have taken place over the course of the last few years. His mishaps include accidents at work, road crashes and a fall through a skylight.
A new development
As a result of his most recent incident, Mr O’Donnell has been awarded €20,000 in damages by a judge. The award relates to a crash that occurred in February 2008. He had been driving his brother’s Honda Civic at Brockagh, St Johnston at around 8pm when alleges that a lorry being driven by David Nesbitt reversed from a side road in front of him.
As a result of the impact, he was rushed to Letterkenny hospital, where he was treated for injuries to his leg and ribs. According to Mr O’Donnell, he continued to suffer pain as a result of previous accidents.
The court heard that Mr O’Donnell had suffered a chest injury in an eight-foot fall through a skylight in 1991 when he was only six years old. He had also sustained a broken jaw in an accident at work in September 2005. Furthermore, he experienced soft tissue injuries when a car drove into him in Co Donegal in 2009 and he suffered further minor injuries when he tripped and fell in Letterkenny in June 2011. As if this wasn’t enough, Mr O’Donnell also endured a broken bone in his chest when a quad he was driving on his family’s farm tipped over and crushed him in May 2012.
Ruling
The settlement was being contested on the grounds that Mr O’Donnell’s speed was a factor in the 2008 collision. However, the judge was also asked to consider what impact the injuries sustained by Mr O’Donnell had had on his health.
Judge Mary Faherty ruled that the lorry driver had been fully responsible for the crash. While she acknowledged that it was “extremely difficult” to decide to what extent other injuries suffered by Mr O’Donnell had contributed to his current ill-health, she said she believed €20,000 was an appropriate amount of compensation.
She also awarded the engineer medical costs of €316 plus legal costs.
Worth investigating
Many people who would in fact be eligible to make compensation claims do not go through this legal process because they are simply unaware of the money they could receive as a result of their suffering.
Anyone who believes that they may have a good case for personal injury compensation can head online to get the facts. It is usually quick and easy for individuals to discover whether or not they can take a case forward. If they do take this course of action and are successful, it can have a hugely positive impact on their lives.
Anna Longdin writes regularly about road accident compensation claims. So that she stays up to date on all the latest industry news and developments, the visits sites including Evolution Legal Ireland.