The High Court awarded Desmond Reeves €80,000 in damages after finding that a 2008 road accident had, on the balance of probabilities, aggravated a pre-existing degenerative condition. The award followed a hearing to assess damages; liability had been decided in a separate judgment in January 2018.
Ms Justice O’Hanlon awarded €60,000 for pain and suffering to date and into the future, and €20,000 for special damages. The judgment records that the plaintiff’s claim for vehicle damage remained subject to an appeal on liability. It says he would be entitled to recover only the applicable share if liability were apportioned on appeal.
The accident happened on 21 March 2008. The court’s earlier account was that a truck scraped the plaintiff’s car from rear to front, forcing it off the road. The court had accepted his account of how the collision occurred and found he had not broken the rules of the road or driven on the yellow hatch markings.
At the damages hearing, Reeves described continuing neck pain, stiffness and numbness in his arms, particularly on the left. He told the court that the symptoms affected sleep, driving, golf and some tasks at work and home. He also described periods without medical treatment, relying on home exercises and pain relief. His wife gave evidence about his symptoms and changes to their activities.
Medical witnesses gave differing views on the contribution of age-related degeneration and the accident. The court preferred the medical evidence called for the plaintiff, while taking a cautious approach because of gaps in the treatment history. It accepted that he had the symptoms he described and noted that he was not then taking medication for the injury.
The court found it probable that the accident aggravated a degenerative condition that existed beforehand. It also noted that Reeves was likely to take a conservative approach to possible treatment because he had undergone a bypass operation. The judgment does not state that the award resolves the vehicle-damage appeal or any later apportionment of liability.