Today (6th October) is World Cerebral Palsy (CP) day. Now in its 11th year, World CP day is a global movement which brings together people living with CP, their families, supporters and organisations. Its aim is to ensure a future in which children and adults with CP have the same rights, access and opportunities as anyone else in our society.
With that in mind it seemed a pertinent time for our Medical Negligence team to reflect on one of its recent cases…
In 2015 Hugh James was instructed to investigate a claim concerning the negligent delivery of a baby, now living with CP having sustained significant brain injury at birth.
The baby was delivered via caesarean section, however, because of the clinician’s failure to recognise and act upon the abnormality of the foetal heart rate, the delivery was negligently delayed. As a result, the baby suffered severe ischaemic brain damage.
The child, now 9 years old, is living with quadriplegic CP, spasticity, dystonia and dyskinesia. As a result, they are unable to live independently and require constant care. Additionally, they suffer from severe microcephaly, visual impairment, intellectual disability and a feeding disorder. They are also severely epileptic.
The settlement, which was approved at court this week, has secured the future of this child and provided some much-needed financial security for their family.
Rhian Parsons, Partner from our Medical Negligence team said;
“This outcome will ensure a better quality of life for this child and their family, which was of the utmost importance throughout the claim process.
“The child’s mother described bringing the claim as ‘an emotional rollercoaster’ but now it’s settled the family can take some comfort in the fact that their child will be cared for, for the rest of their life.”
Corporate Relationship Manager, Claire Walker, at our partner charity Cerebral Palsy Cymru adds;
“Celebrating World CP Day is an important part of Cerebral Palsy Cymru’s calendar. It not only gives us the opportunity to raise vital awareness of cerebral palsy, and the work we do to support families across Wales, but we also see it as a chance to share the incredible achievements of our children, families and ambassadors. As an organisation, we do all that we can to share our knowledge and skills, empowering our families to help their children reach their fullest potential and feel better equipped to tackle what can be a daunting road ahead.”
