The High Court has awarded Michael O’Dwyer €95,000 after finding that a 2018 road crash caused damage to his left ureter and kidney, eventually requiring the kidney to be removed. The judgment was delivered electronically by Mr Justice Barr on 12 July 2022 in O’Dwyer v Silarăups, record number 2019/1003P. Liability for causing the crash was not disputed, and no contributory negligence was alleged. The court was deciding the disputed extent and cause of the plaintiff’s injuries and the damages due.
The crash happened on 27 October 2018. The plaintiff said he was travelling slowly when the defendant’s car came around a bend on the wrong side of the road. The court accepted that the collision was significant and generally head-on, and assessed the defendant’s speed at about 30 to 40 km/h. It accepted that the plaintiff’s hernia became more prominent after the crash, but found this did not materially affect the hernia repair carried out in February 2019.
The main medical dispute concerned an obstruction in the plaintiff’s left ureter, discovered on scans in January 2019. The defendant’s urologist attributed it to scarring and inflammation following the plaintiff’s 2017 bowel perforation, infection and subsequent surgery. The plaintiff’s urologist considered crash-related stretching or tearing more likely. The judge preferred the plaintiff’s expert’s explanation, noting that scans in January and July 2018 had shown no damage to the ureter or kidney. The court found that the crash caused the ureter injury, which led to obstruction, loss of kidney function and a nephrectomy in January 2020.
The court also found that the crash significantly worsened the plaintiff’s mental health, including causing post-traumatic stress disorder, and that he suffered soft tissue injuries to his neck, shoulder and lower back. It did not accept that he had to move house because of post-traumatic stress symptoms; the records linked his housing application to difficulty accessing a bath. The court said recovery from the soft tissue injuries was expected within six to twelve months of the assessment, giving an overall recovery period of about four to four and a half years from the crash.
The award comprised €65,000 for pain and suffering to date, €25,000 for future pain and suffering, and €5,000 in agreed special damages. There was no claim for loss of earnings. The court entered judgment for the plaintiff in the total sum of €95,000.