The High Court has awarded Hazel O’Sullivan €279,191 in damages for injuries sustained in a head-on collision near St John’s Cemetery in Cork on 29 January 2021. Liability was not in issue; the court’s task was to determine compensation.
In a judgment delivered on 17 May 2024, Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell assessed general damages at €123,500. The total also includes €29,498 in past special damages, including interest, and €125,193 for future special damages.
Ms O’Sullivan, who was 37 at the time of the judgment, sustained a displaced fracture of her right femur and underwent surgery to insert a nail. The court heard that she spent about three months in a wheelchair after leaving hospital and needed help with daily activities. She was left with visible scars, some discomfort and unsteadiness. The judge awarded €70,000 for the leg injury, taking account of the scarring and the lengthy period when she could not bear weight.
The court also accepted that the collision caused ongoing lower back pain. It preferred the evidence of pain specialist Mr Andrew Purcell on the cause and likely course of the symptoms over that of orthopaedic surgeon Mr David Mulcahy. The judge found that the back injury fell within the middle range of the Guidelines’ moderate back injury category and assessed it at €30,000 before an adjustment for overlap with the other injuries.
Ms O’Sullivan also had intermittent chest pain and PTSD symptoms, including nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety in vehicles. The judge assessed each at €20,000 before applying a 30% reduction to both awards because the injuries arose from the same accident and their treatment and recovery overlapped. The back injury was reduced by 15%, reflecting its continuing effects after the other injuries were improving.
The court accepted that further treatment would be needed for her back and that counselling or therapy would be required for a further period, but did not accept that therapy had been shown to be necessary for life. It adjusted the actuary’s figures, allowing five years of counselling or therapy and reducing the provision for physiotherapy to reflect the expected effect of pain management treatment. Past special damages had been agreed at €28,572; the court added €926 in interest.
The judge’s view on costs was provisional: Ms O’Sullivan should recover her costs, including reserved costs and discovery costs, with the amount to be adjudicated if the parties could not agree. The court listed the case for 18 June 2024 to address final orders. The judgment does not state what final costs order was later made.