No Win No Fee Solicitor gets £1m payout for brain-damaged man
A man who sustained a severe brain injury when he was struck down by a car as a young child has won massive compensation in recognition of the suffering which he will endure for the rest of his life.
Tobias Seaton-Stedham, now 20, was in a coma for 10 days after the accident and remains seriously disabled, afflicted with cognitive and behavioural problems. He has suffered epileptic attacks in the past.
The payout is said to be in excess of £1 million.
After being hit by a car on the Blandford bypass in March 1995, Tobias defied doctors by surviving terrible injuries, including a fractured skull and face, but it meant him having to have about a quarter of his brain removed.
He also initially suffered breathing complications.
Although the youngster was said to have made a “remarkable recovery” he went on to suffer bad temper tantrums.
He was unable to join in boisterous games with his friends and often needed a wheelchair when going out because he became easily tired.
On March 19, 1995, Tobias was eight and playing with his friends when they attempted to cross the Blandford Bypass, near Langton Long Road, and he was struck by a car.
Through his father Jonathan, Tobias, of Philip Road, Blandford Forum, Dorset - sued the driver of the car that hit him.
Liability was initially disputed but on the day the matter was to be heard in court in 2004, the parties agreed on 80 per cent liability in favour of Tobias.
Susan Rodway QC, for Tobias, told London’s High Court: “This is an action arising out of a tragic road accident in March 1995.
“He was crossing a busy two-way road with his friends and was tragically knocked down and severely injured.”
Mr Justice Jack yesterday approved a compensation sum after the parties settled the matter. While the sum was kept confidential, it is believed to be in excess of a million pounds.
In approving the order, the judge praised the care that Tobias’s parents had taken of him over the years.
“When as a judge I read the papers in these cases I’m always struck, I think always is the word, by the extraordinary support that people, when they are injured, receive from their family.
“This is no exception to that.
“I hope that all goes well for Toby and his parents,” he added.