With the London 2012 Paralympics in the headlines, the sad story of Simon Richardson has pulled at the nations heartstrings.
Simon Richardson is a successful Paralympic cyclist. In August 2011 Simon was out in South Wales riding his bike training for the Paralympics when a farmer collided with Simon with his van and fled the scene. The farmer was later arrested for the incident and was found to be twice over the drink-drive limit.
As a result of the accident Simon was left with a fractured spine, a broken pelvis, a broken breast bone, lacerations and a detached lung. Due to his extensive injuries Simon was unable to train and compete in the London 2012 Paralympics. In the 2008 Bejing Paralympics Simon Richardson won 2 Gold medals and a Silver medal and therefore was a great hope for London 2012.
When perusing a claim for personal injury there are two aspects which you can recover, namely General Damages and Special Damages.
General damages are compensation for the pain and suffering and loss of amenity. Loss of amenity is term that is not common to most. It represents compensation for the loss of enjoyment to life that the injuries have caused. Factors that affect this are whether you do sport professionally or whether a particular hobby has been affected.
Simon’s case is a classic example of when significant loss of amenity would apply. As part of Simon’s everyday life he would train to compete in cycling competitions, World Championships and Paralympics. As a result of his injuries Simon has been unable to train to compete and his whole enjoyment of life, I expect, has fallen considerably.
As part of a personal injury case Simon would be able to claim compensation for not only his extensive injuries he sustained but for the loss of enjoyment he has sustained to life.
It is understood that Simon’s claim for compensation is still ongoing, however the offender has been prosecuted in the criminal courts. Good luck messages have been sent to Simon for a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to compete at Rio 2016.
If you feel that you could be entitled for compensation then contact The Injury Lawyers for friendly and reliable advise from real Lawyers.
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