A fourteen year old boy died three days after he had been crushed by a reversing vehicle. The appellants were informed of the accident soon after it occurred and went to the hospital. The boy was seen in the ambulance and as he was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit the parents stayed with their son during the two days he was on the life support machine and saw him grievously injured. When there was no significant improvement the father bravely took upon himself the task of switching off the life support machine. The parents’ claim failed.
Held: The appeal failed.The mother had a dawning consciousness that they were going to lose their son and he declined to extend the notion of proximity to this ‘elongated process’. The court rejected the argument that the post-accident treatment continued up to the time of this boy’s death. Moreover on the medical evidence the real psychiatric damage resulted from grief at their son’s death and the parents’ illnesses were not shown to have been caused by the shocking events relied upon.
Citations:
[1994] PIQR 329
Cited by:
Cited – North Glamorgan NHS Trust v Walters CA 6-Dec-2002
A new mother woke in hospital to see her baby (E) fitting. E suffered a major epileptic seizure leading to coma and irreparable brain damage. E was transferred to a London hospital and the following day the claimant was told by a consultant that E’s . .
Cited – Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Ronayne CA 17-Jun-2015
The respondent was an experienced ambulance driver. His wife underwent emergency treatment at the appellant’s hospital. He had claimed as a secondary victim for the distress he suffered witnessing her suffering.
Held: The hospital’s appeal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury
Updated: 16 May 2022; Ref: scu.183346
