Cyclist Obtains £65K Compensation For Brain Injury Following an Accident With Dog Owner
Cyclist Obtains £65K Compensation For Brain Injury Following an Accident With Dog Owner
A man who became entangled in a dog lead while out riding his bike has won £65,000 in compensation for the brain injuries he sustained.
It took Anthony Steel three years to track down the individual who was walking the dog at the time of the accident, with the parties having now agreed an out of court settlement, after Mr Steel commenced legal action.
Cyclist suffered a major fracture to his skull leading to brain damage
In August 2012, Anthony Steel, a cyclist with over 20 years’ experience of riding on roads, was training for a Coast-to-Coast cycling event with friends.
Mr Steel was riding along the promenade in Heysham, Lancashire when he noticed a group of people standing in the middle of the pathway. He rang his bell to alert them that he was oncoming and gestured for them to move aside to allow him to continue. As he passed to the left of the group to try and ride by them safely, one of the pedestrian’s dogs darted out in front of his bike. While the dog was unharmed, the retractable lead got caught up with his wheels, propelling him from the bike. He hit the ground hard and fell unconscious.
The father-of-two was taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, where he suffered breathing difficulties. The power station operations manager had sustained a major fracture to the right side of his skull, permanent hearing damage in his right ear, several fractures to his ribs and clavicle and a number of cuts and bruises. Due to the extent of his injuries, Mr Steel was off work for seven weeks and required extensive neuro- psychotherapeutic therapy and cognitive rehabilitation.
“I wanted to get the financial support for my rehabilitation”
With ongoing suffering as a result of his injuries, and frequent dizzy spells, Mr Steel spent three years tracking down the individual who was responsible for the dog at the time of the accident. After a time-consuming investigation, he discovered that the person walking the dog was a woman in her 70’s, who had been visiting the seaside town and was walking the dog as a favour for a friend.
He commenced legal action in a bid to recover the costs of his treatment and his ongoing expenses as a result of his injuries. The matter was due to be heard at Manchester County Court, when the woman agreed an out-of-court settlement, which sees the 59-year-old man set to receive £65,000.
After the hearing, Mr Steel stated:
“All I wanted out of this was to get the financial support I needed for my rehabilitation and to raise awareness of how dangerous retractable dog leads can be, especially if people don’t know what they’re doing with them. [The woman responsible for the dog] certainly wasn’t au fait with the lead so I think it just ran away with her, which is when I got tangled up in it.
They can be quite complicated to work if you don’t know what you’re doing and sadly the consequences didn’t work out well for me.”
Explaining his injuries and his recollection of the incident, he stated:
“The last thing I can remember before hitting the ground was seeing a small white dog dart across my path and noticing the thin black lead getting trapped in my wheels. I had no idea of the severity of my injuries suffered until I had come round in hospital and my wife, Lynne informed me of the skull fracture.
The experience has left me with permanent hearing loss, dizziness, headaches, balancing issues and pain in my right shoulder. Lynne tells me that sometimes when I suffer from a dizzy spell I walk like a drunk on a boat.
I can’t quite believe that all of this has been caused by someone who could not control their dog or be aware of their surroundings.”
Contact our experienced brain injury solicitors for advice on making a compensation claim
If you have experienced a head or brain injury and would like to enquire about making a personal injury compensation claim, please contact one of our experienced head and brain injury claims solicitors on 01895 207835 or 01895 207295. Alternatively please complete our online form or send an email with your name and contact information and brief details as to the nature of the accident/clinical negligence and the injuries sustained to PI@ibblaw.co.uk and one of our team will be able to help you.
