Compensation for Disabled Man Thrown from Wheelchair

A disabled man has recently won compensation of £80,000 after he was thrown out of his wheelchair when it hit a pothole.

The man, 56, and his brother were on their way home from a concert. His brother was pushing him over a dimly lit bridge when the front wheels of his wheelchair struck the pothole. The man fell out of the wheelchair and his brother almost landed on top of him.

At first the man, who is paralysed from the chest down as a result of a motorbike accident which occurred when he was a teenager, was unaware that he was injured as he couldn’t feel any pain. The next day, however, he noticed that his hip was swollen. It was in fact broken and the fracture required surgery to insert and later remove a metal plate.

As a result, he has lost confidence in using his hand push wheelchair as he is afraid of suffering a similar accident. He now uses a motorised wheelchair instead.

A claim was brought against the local council on the ground that it had failed in its duty to maintain the pavement in a safe condition. The council admitted liability and an out-of-court settlement was agreed.