€32,500 creche fall compensation has been awarded to a two-year-old boy who fell and cut his left eyebrow at Wee Care Limited, Monkstown, Co Dublin in the Circuit Civil Court on Tuesday.
The accident occurred as the boy, Lucas Murphy, was cleaning his hands in a crèche bathroom. Barrister Samantha Cruess Callaghan, counsel for Lucas, told Judge John O’Connor that the boy had been standing on a footstool while cleaning his hands at a sink. He was using the footstool as the sink was too high for him to reach. Lucas is now seven years old.
Lucas, with an address at Ashgrove, Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, had been standing on a small plastic stool while cleaning his hands when the accident happened and he struck his head on the toilet bowl as he fell from his perch.
Through his legal team and his father, it was alleged that there was negligence on behalf of the creche in relation to the incident and Lucas had been left with a visible horizontal scar on his left eyebrow.
The accident occurred when Lucas, who was aged two-and-a-half at the time, was attending the Wee Care Creche in October 2014. The young boy suffered a great deal of trauma and was rushed to Tallaght Hospital by ambulance. He was then taken to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin where he was seen to by physicians. They treated him medically using adhesive tape.
Lucas was taken back to the day care unit at the hospital for three further appointments, the last being in January 2015. By that time the wound had properly healed but he had been left with a two centimetre long scar.
The creche fall injury compensation action was taken against Wee Care Limited for Lucas via his father Darren Murphy. The Judge was informed that they believed the accident had happened due to negligence on behalf of the crèche. Wee Care Ltd made a settlement offer of €32,500 damages which Judge O’Connor approved, despite being advised that the boy’s parent believed that it was insufficient. However they were informed by the Judge that given the circumstances, it was a very reasonable offer.