Man awarded €25k after being hit by strimmer

A 37-year-old man who suffered headaches and was left with a fear of hedge strimmers after being injured on a Community Employment work placement scheme has been awarded €25,000 in an action against the South Kerry Development Partnership (SKDP).

Bartholomew O’Callaghan, of Lemannaguilla, Kilcummin, Killarney, had been using a pike to clear briars with a colleague at Deer-park, Killarney, in February 2012. He had been working under a scheme run under the aegis of the SKDP.

His colleague was using a strimmer nearby when a steel blade broke off and flew through the air, striking Mr O’Callaghan on the head.

“Suddenly, I saw blood coming down my face. My colleague came over. I had to take off my shirt to stop the bleeding,” Mr O’Callaghan told the Circuit Civil Court in Killarney.

He received eight stitches and was left with a V-shaped scar, which can still irritate.

Unable to return to work for a number of months, Mr O’Callaghan had for a long time afterwards become upset when passing the site of the incident, he told his barrister, Katie O’Connell.

“I am nervous of using strimmers or of being around them,” he said.

As he had not been working with a strimmer, he was not equipped with a helmet or visor, he told Henry Downing, for the defence.

Medical reports stated Mr O’Callaghan was still nervous around strimmers and had not gone near machinery for some time. He suffered flashbacks of what might have happened, depression, along with anxiety, and stress. He was left with a pulsing headache for which he still needed medication three or four nights a week.

Judge John Hannan said Mr O’Callaghan had been an honest and clear witness. He was understandably still nervous in relation to working near a strimmer. He had suffered significant injury to his scalp and the significant element were headaches.