Trainee solicitor Isabel Jones writes about her experiences working with children who have cerebral palsy in collaboration with Rhian Parsons, Partner in the clinical negligence team, to explain how our expert solicitors can support families who have been impacted by the condition.
World Cerebral Palsy Day aims to raise awareness of cerebral palsy, challenge misconceptions, celebrate the achievements of people in the community and push for a more accessible, inclusive world. Cerebral Palsy is the most common lifelong physical disability, yet it remains one of the most underfunded and overlooked.
We support individuals and families affected by cerebral palsy as a result of clinical negligence. We wish to use this blog post to raise awareness and the ways in which we can help if you, or someone you know is impacted by the condition.
Understanding cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is a lifelong disability, caused by damage sustained to the brain before, during, or after birth. Over 50 million people worldwide live with the condition and over 350 million parents, family members and caregivers are directly affected. There are many different causes, including: maternal infection (such as rubella or toxoplasmosis); oxygen starvation to the baby’s brain during pregnancy or delivery; premature birth; bleeds in the baby’s brain during pregnancy or delivery; infection while the baby is young and genetic problems.
The symptoms of cerebral palsy generally become more obvious as a child grows up when their nervous system begins maturing. The nature of the condition can vary greatly depending on the severity of brain damage the baby experienced. Some with Cerebral Palsy go on to live independently, experiencing some difficulties with mobility. Others will become severely disabled and will require 24/7 care for the rest of their lives. Other symptoms include delayed developmental milestones, abnormal muscle tone, abnormal involuntary movements, and swallowing problems. In the more serious cases, cerebral palsy can come alongside other disabilities such as Epilepsy, Dysphagia and cognitive and behavioral issues (such as ADHD).
How cerebral palsy affects daily living
Every person who has cerebral palsy will experience the condition in a different way, so it is difficult to pin down just how the disability affects daily life. Before working at Hugh James, I worked for a small charity called Forest Pulse for 7 years. Here, I supported many children and their families with a variety of disabilities, with cerebral palsy being one of the most common.
For some of the children I worked with, they attended mainstream schools but experienced difficulties participating in PE lessons or found it trickier than their peers to focus in class due to cognitive issues. For others, they were wheelchair bound, needing constant supervision in case of seizures and only able to eat blended food due to difficulties with swallowing. Every single child with cerebral palsy who I have met has been completely different, and that is just from my experience with a small charity.
For further information about how cerebral palsy affects lives, you can read our article from last year which discusses how cerebral palsy impacts daily living for our clients.
Real stories: fighting for justice
We strive to ensure victims of clinical negligence achieve the compensation they are entitled to. We are often approached by families who have a child with cerebral palsy which has been caused by some kind of negligence in the pregnancy, birth, or post-natal care.
One of our partners, Lesley Herbertson, was able to secure £10.6million for a child with cerebral palsy and their family. In this case, the birth was delayed longer than it should have been, which meant the baby was born with severe developmental delay and cerebral palsy. £10.6million was achieved as the hospital admitted liability and therefore, we could ensure the child will be appropriately cared for and have access to suitable equipment for the rest of their life.
Rhian Parsons, another of our Partners in the clinical negligence team, discussed a case with the father of a son born with cerebral palsy due to a birth injury. This was settled for a seven-figure sum and the article talks about their journey, the challenges and the positives of what he and his family have experienced from seeking a clinical negligence claim.
Rhian Parsons said:
“We acknowledge that cerebral palsy can be a devastating diagnosis for our clients and their families. We adopt a holistic approach, working with our charity partners such as Cerebral Palsy Cymru, and our trusted teams of experts and counsel to try and secure the best outcomes for our clients. We want our clients to achieve the best quality of life possible.”
These are just two stories from many of the families we have and continue to support. They outline some of the life-changing results that can be achieved from pursuing a clinical negligence claim, allowing children and their families a much better quality of life.
Why legal support matters
A common barrier for all the families I worked with in my previous charity role was their ability to access the care and support they needed in raising a child with a disability. Whether this was educational, emotional, physical, health related, long-term care, or many other factors, a diagnosis of cerebral palsy can have an immense impact on the family affected. This is where our team can be of great support. Although we cannot take back the cause of the condition and the emotional impact of raising a child with it, if it was caused by clinical negligence, we might be able to take the case on and achieve an award of compensation that might make these families’ lives that slight bit easier.
The money achieved from legal cases can be used to alleviate the stress a condition like cerebral palsy might have on a family, such as the provision of care, adapting the home, purchasing equipment to ensure the child can live comfortably, and funding therapies to reduce the impact of the condition on the child’s life. For example, several of the children I used to work with had to have hoists installed into their family homes to enable safe movement of them in and out of wheelchairs. Another had a hydrotherapy pool installed to help with physiotherapy and because they loved swimming. Ultimately, this can lead to the child having some independence, with the environment around them better suited to their needs.
Looking forward
Hopefully, this article has drawn more awareness to cerebral palsy on World Cerebral Palsy Day and outlined how our clinical negligence team might be able to support families affected. World Cerebral Palsy Day exists to change the fact that people with the condition face barriers from lack of access to healthcare and education to social exclusion, and we strive to achieve this in the work we do.
