£500,000 compensation awarded to lady after ambulance was late

A payout of £500,000 has been awarded to the National History Museum’s former exhibitions manager after she was forced to give up her job following a delay in treatment for a dislocated knee.

Ceri Leigh, who dislocated her knee whilst on a bus, lay trapped between two seats and unable to move for 50 minutes before an ambulance arrived to give her pain relief and put her knee cap back in place.

Ms Leigh has been left with severe post traumatic stress disorder following the accident and now suffers seizures and sometimes collapses. She has since had to give up her job.

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust admitted that the ambulance arrived 17 minutes later than it should have done. It was ordered to pay a total of £522,379 in damages.

The judge said: “She has continuing PTSD which flashbacks, nightmares and dissociative seizures.

“In the flashbacks, she finds herself back on the bus experiencing the pain and anxiety she felt at the time.

“The nightmares occur nightly, breaking her sleep pattern and leaving her exhausted.

“The dissociative seizures unexpectedly cause her body to go numb and she collapses. She suffers a collapse most days.

“She remains conscious but feels nothing and is unable to move or speak.

“She is unable to travel outside on her own. She is largely housebound. When she goes outside with a family member, she may suddenly collapse in the street.

“She find it difficult to concentrate, plan and action ordinary activities such as housework and mentally tends to go round and round in circles. She becomes easily overwhelmed”.

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