Personal Injury claim - Rob's story

My name’s Rob, I’m 34 and I live in London with my wife. Before my accident I was working in a small company and rode down and back on a motorbike.

I was doing my usual commute home from work in the evening and was a couple of minutes away from home. I don’t remember the accident itself but apparently a car had pulled out blind from behind a line of traffic. I had right of way, I wasn’t speeding, my lights were on, and there was nothing wrong with my bike.

On the night of the accident I had to have emergency surgery because I was losing a lot of blood. Next thing I knew was waking up in hospital to be told what had happened.

I had exploratory surgery on my leg, the bone was shattered and there was also damage to the arteries. I was very clearly advised that amputation was the best way forward.

I was given my first leg, an NHS prosthetic. It was a massive relief to be able to stand on two feet again. After the accident I was commuting using public transport which was a lengthy journey. Combined with the pain and the general feeling that things were getting worse, I started to feel quite depressed.

All this combined to adversely affect my career. I hadn’t really thought that much about legal compensation while I was in hospital. Apart from being sedated my immediate priority was being able to walk again.

After coming out of hospital I met Sally Moore who had been recommended by another amputee that Leigh Day had represented. She came over to my parent’s house where I was staying. I found her very honest, compassionate, and she clearly understood what I was going through.

Legal things were not right at the top of my list of priorities. She was able to answer any questions I had, reassure me over the worries I had and was totally honest. I was very impressed with her. She didn’t just give legal advice either, she obviously has a lot of experience with personal injury amputees.

The legal process obviously took quite a while. There was probably a year and a half on the criminal side of things before the civil case could really get underway. Sally was able to get me an interim payment.

From the beginning she advised that it should be 100% the responsibility of the other side. When we saw the final offer they made, we were very tempted to take it. It was a couple of years after the accident, and we wanted some closure.

Sally said that even though this was the type of figure we might have been expecting all along, she thought the offer was worth rejecting because of all the expert evidence she had gathered. We took her advice, and I’m very glad that we did. The case was eventually resolved and we ended up with double the settlement than was originally offered.

Towards the end of the case Sally felt more like a friend than just a legal representative. She was doing her absolute best to maximise what I was going to get in compensation. She made what was obviously a nasty situation as easy as it could possibly be. In the end she got an amazing result for us at the end financially.

I was delighted with the way that she and everyone else at LD handled the case. The compensation that we’ve got has enabled us to start looking at properties which are more suitable and will be wheelchair accessible. It has enabled me to buy private prosthetics including a waterproof leg, so that I can go swimming and kayaking.

It has taken a lot of pressure off financially. In November 2011, I lost my job, largely because of the accident and my mental state. It would have been a huge issue if I hadn’t had that interim payment to cover everyday living costs. I’ve also just taken delivery of a ski leg which I wouldn’t have been able to get on the NHS. Now I’m looking forward to getting back into work and enjoying life.

I’m feeling a lot better than I have for a long time.

LD have certainly made what was always going to be a difficult period of my life as easy as they could. They have secured a financial settlement that will help me live my life as best as possible in the future. A big thank you to them.

I’m feeling now that we’ve achieved closure and would like to put it all behind us. We are just feeling much more positive than we have in a long time.