£500,000 Settlement
In 1993 Charles’ mother went into labour following an uneventful pregnancy. During the labour Charles’ shoulder became stuck in the birth canal, this is known as Shoulder Dystocia. Charles’ head had been delivered but the doctors were unable to deliver his body for a further 10 minutes, all the while Charles was unable to breathe.
Following the birth, it was apparent that Charles had suffered a severe nerve injury to his right arm (Erb’s Palsy), but thankfully had no lasting brain damage. During the labour the nerves that run from the neck to the arm had been stretched to breaking point, which meant Charles had no movement and no feeling within the arm at all.
Charles had a number of operations during his childhood, the first of which being when he was only 3 months old. Unfortunately, none of the operations succeeded in Charles regaining any use with his right arm. Charles is now in his early twenties and his right arm remains useless and is noticeably shorter and smaller than his left arm.
Charles came to Pryers to seek assistance in bringing a claim against the hospital involved. Despite Charles being 19 years old when he approached Pryers, Pryers were able to assist him in investigating his claim, as a child has until they reach 21 years old to bring a claim.
Charles’ claim was managed by Alice Houlden, a solicitor at Pryers Solicitors, who specialises in birth injuries. Detailed and thorough investigations were carried out and a settlement of £500,000 was secured for Charles to compensate him for his injury at birth, and for future care and assistance he will need to enable him to move out of home and live independently, which he previously has been unable to do due to the restrictions of only having one functioning arm.
Alice of Pryers said: “Charles finally has some answers regarding what caused his injury at birth. He is extremely happy that he also has the ability to pay for care so that he may live a more independent life”.
