A seven year old girl, brain damaged at birth due to a delayed delivery, has had an initial settlement of 2 million Euros approved in the High Court by Mr Justice John Quirke. Brid Courtney of Ardfert, County Kerry, cannot speak, is confined to a wheelchair and only able to communicate by using facial expressions. She sued the Health Service Executive (HSE) through her mother, Mrs Deirdre Courtney.
It was alleged that at the time of Brid´s birth in February 2003, nursing staff at Tralee General Hospital in County Kerry failed to act when there was a sudden and dramatic change in the foetal heart rate pattern. When labour was induced and the baby delivered after almost an hour´s delay, Brid was not breathing and an emergency team of doctors had to resuscitate her. She was subsequently diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The court heard that despite being completely dependent on her parents, Brid was a “joyous, happy child” and was intellectually sound with a normal IQ of 106. Even though her profound physical disabilities will prevent her from enjoying a normal childhood and shorten her expected lifespan, the court was told that Brid “communicates in a humorous way with everybody around her”.
The settlement was reached with no admission of liability by the HSE, and was made under the new “periodic payments system” which means that the case will return to the High Court in November 2012 to determine how much Brid´s family should receive to fund her future care. Again, she will be represented by her mother and, as with all child injury claims, have to have any compensation settlement approved by court.
As he was officially approving the compensation settlement, Mr Justice John Quirke praised Mr and Mrs Courtney for the years of care they had given their daughter. He told the court: “It’s very inspiring to the rest of us to see what you’ve done. It really is remarkable.”