The High Court awarded Claire Hession €95,250 in damages and costs for injuries she suffered when her father’s car crushed her legs against a wall in August 2003. Liability had been conceded, and the court’s task was to assess compensation.
Hession was nearly 14 and playing with her puppy in a yard beside her home when she saw the car, parked in a hay shed, begin to move. The judgment said the brake had apparently been left off. She rushed to stop the car and was crushed between it and a wall.
The defence alleged that Hession had been negligent. Mr Justice Diarmuid B. O’Donovan said her response was instinctive and that she had not deliberately exposed herself to injury. He was not persuaded that her conduct amounted to negligence, noting that she was 14 at the time.
The collision caused severe soft tissue injuries to both legs, though X-rays showed no bone injury. Hession spent 10 weeks in hospital and underwent two operations under general anaesthetic. The procedures included debridement of a degloving injury to her right leg and a split skin graft, with skin taken from her right thigh. She was discharged on crutches and, the judge said, had to learn to walk again.
She missed three weeks of school and returned to basketball, football and Irish dancing. The judgment also recorded ongoing weakness and pain, including in cold weather, and the need to wear support on her left knee for football. Hession was left with a conspicuous indentation and scarring on her right leg, as well as scarring on her thigh. The judge said the right leg’s appearance could not be improved and was a source of considerable embarrassment to her.
The court awarded €35,000 for the injuries and their effects up to the judgment, and €50,000 in future general damages, taking account of the lasting appearance of her right leg. Special damages had been agreed at €10,250. The total award was €95,250, plus costs.