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Hi, on Wednesday my son's partner who is 34 weeks pregnant took her 17 month old daughter (along with her mother, 5 yr old brother & 7 yr old sister) to the playground in our local council run park. She slipped on the 'slip proof' area around the slide which her daughter was on & fell backwards twisting her ankle underneath her. The play area was packed with parents & children, who came to her aid. An ambulance was called and she was taken to our local hospital, where they found she had broken her ankle in 3 places. She was operated on yesterday to pin & plate the bones & will be in hospital for at least a week. The ambulance crew noted the area was in poor repair and the lady in the coffee shop on site commented that they had reported the problem many times to the council. We have photo evidence of the incident and the poor area around the slide. My son & his partner are understandably very upset, as she is being closely monitored in case she should go into labour & is in great discomfort. She was due to be induced on 24/11/16, due to developing gestational diabetes. My son is a self employed electrician who cannot afford to lose time from work & is really worried about how to care for his partner & child (& forthcoming child) & keep his jobs running. I have reported the incident on the Councils website tonight on their behalf. Can you advise who we should contact other than the council & should we engage a regular solicitor or a 'no win no fee' solicitor. As you can imagine the whole family are shocked, upset & just want to help them get through this and advise them correctly. Many thanks.
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Re: Pregnant lady falls in local park
Hi and welcome, you have done the correct thing taking pics and getting witnesses etc and then reporting it to the council.
The council has a duty to maintain pavements etc and are supposed to check them on a regular basis and reports submitted. If the lady at the coffee shop has any proof of her reports about the area that would help too. Check your home insurance have you got Legal Expenses cover? if so read the T&Cs carefully, if you are covered they should have a help line to advise you.
These things are always very long winded some time taking years and I know that is no consolation in this dreadful situation.
Welfare rights will be the ones to advise on any benefits that can be claimed, so I would give your local office a call.
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Re: Pregnant lady falls in local park
Good morning, welcome to LB,
What a horrible thing to happen I hope the babe is ok?
I would first make a Formal Complaint to the Chief Executive of the local authority, ( with photographs of the area) the complaint obliges the council to fully investigate the incident and make a response within 56 days.
I'm not sure just what response the e-mail might get or if it will get to someone with authority to act on it.
nemComment
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Re: Pregnant lady falls in local park
A few years back, my late mother who was approaching her 80th birthday, tripped on a raised pavement slab, fell and broke a bone in her wrist that was put into plaster. I was fortunate to take photos of the raised pavement slab ( it was some two and a half inches raised at one end ), her plastered wrist and her facial bruising ( that was extensive looking like she'd just done a few rounds in the ring ).
I wrote to the council ( as if from my mother ) enclosing all photos and making the claim that she held them responsible for her hurt and emotional distress, pointing out they had failed to maintain the pavement at this point, and asking them to pass the contents of this letter to their insurers for consideration of a compensation claim.
Correspondence went back and fore but not extensively and she was asked to send the hospital discharge paperwork to tie up the injury to the event. There was no legal representation involved and if my memory serves me correctly she was made an offer of some £4000 that she accepted.
I remember that advice taken at the time suggested local authorities are a prime target for compensation claims and perhaps we were a tad over zealous in expecting such. However, this was an eighty year old woman who could have been forgiven is falling foul of a stray flagstone and did suffer a high level of hurt and distress as a result. However, it was pointed out that a much younger person would have been expected to exhibit a 'duty of care' for their own safety and may not have been treated in the same manner.
MY only other comment would be that a well worded letter together with all documentary proof ( photos, witness statements, hospital copy reports ) always trumps an email in effectiveness and in the event of not knowing the specific department, it is always best to address it to the CEO for their specific attention.Comment
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Re: Pregnant lady falls in local park
I agree with Snoopy, as an instance my daughters PA tripped on a raised flagstone, she did all the correct stuff ie photos letters to the council. They came back with all sorts of dribble such as if any contractors had been in the area and driven on the pavement it was their fault,, basically denying responsibility. She really injured her foot badly and it has left her with life long problems. I advised her to carry on with the sol she had taken on and not to give up, so far the claim is still ongoing and she has seen specialists re her foot and the consequences of the injury will be I think, a big part of her claim.
So like Snoopy said a proper letter and all the proof is needed, but imo you have done the right thing initially in following their procedure initially this is always in your favour.
Hoping mum and baby are ok, it's great too they have you helping them with this. As I said being self employed doesn't exempt you from benefits but the welfare rights dept will advise what can be claimed.Comment
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Re: Pregnant lady falls in local park
Hi, just to update you.
It was a fairly traumatic time for Hayley after going home, thankfully they have a ground floor flat, but she was unable to use crutches or zimmer frame due to her great size & a painful pelvic condition. She had to be pushed from room to room in my mum's wheelchair. Her mum would go to each morning till I got there at 2.30pm & I would stay till my son got home to take over. (I had to reduce & change my work hours for a couple of months). She was also regularly checked by the midwives & the mental health team (she got mad post natal depression previously) & needed to monitor her medication. She not only had to self inject twice a day for her diabetes but also an anti blood clotting injection due to the break. She gave birth (still in plaster) 3 weeks early on 19/11/16 to a healthy 8lb 13oz boy.
The Council website had a Parks Accident Report section and I informed them of the incident & had a sympathetic email in reply but denying any knowledge of previous accidents or reports. They asked to see any photographic evidence to support our allegations. In the meantime, I spoke to the lady in the cafe who confirmed that a group of council & park officials had inspected the area but had not spoken to her. At that time, which was just before Xmas no repairs had been done.
We spoke to a few solicitors to get their advise & most said a 'no win-no fee' was the route to go, as it could be very expensive if they needed to engage a barrister. They also said not to respond to the council email or give them photo's, but to get the details of the lady in cafe, as she would be a useful witness. They needed Hayley to deal with them direct, but at that time she was not physically or mentally ready. After the plaster was removed she had a moon boot & crutches. It has taken awhile for her to get her confidence back and her latest xray shows the side that was plated has healed but the other side which was pinned has still not properly healed. She is still unable to go out with the children on her own.
My son popped into the park a couple of weeks ago & the area has now been repaired! We have the cafe lady's details, she's not employed by the council, but by the catering company who runs the cafe. She confirmed she put the accident in the cafe's incident book & informed the park rangers. Hayley has now instructed a firm of solicitors to act for her. I'll update you again in due course.Comment
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Re: Pregnant lady falls in local park
A boy and quite a whopper, so pleased the birth went ok although not ideal for mum still in plaster. Congratulations all round xxx
Make a note of everything that has happened and exactly how it has affected all your lives since the accident.
My daughters PA who I mentioned before was going to give up on her claim, she had quite an upsetting interview (as she thought) as all her medical records were gone through and lots of questions asked. As it turns out the report from this interview is very much on her side and will help her case a lot. Only mentioning this because the council will try and worm out of this, it also may not be a quick result and am not talking months, but please don't let that put you off in any way.
Good luck and best wishes to all concerned xxComment
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