Paralysed man in €2.7m claim after diving accident
The girl he fell in love with, Jennifer Brady, was with him at the time and saved his life by dragging him from the water.
The tragic circumstances and aftermath of Garry’s accident was outlined by Brian Murray, QC, to the Australian court, which created legal history by sitting for the first time in a foreign country.
Mr Murray, counsel for Garry, who lives at Dolphin Park, Donnycarney, Dublin, outlined to the court what had happened since January 24, 1999, when he broke his neck while swimming on a beach at Coffs Harbour about four hours’ drive north of Sydney.
He had taken a six-month leave of absence from his job and had been travelling in Australia with Jennifer on a holiday of a lifetime.
Mr Mulligan explained to the court how he waded into the sea and plunged head-first under the water six or seven times before the fateful dive. He said he saw no danger signs on the beach.
He said: “I remember hitting something at the bottom, I felt sand raised, and just something snap in my head. It seemed very painful. I came to the surface. I didn’t think anything straight away but then I realised that I was not able to get my head above the surface and was unable to move.”
He added: “I have a vague recollection of Jenny trying to pull me out of the water and then the next thing I remember is waking up with a lot of people standing around me.”
Mr Mulligan was admitted to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney where he remained for almost four months following the accident in January 1999. His family visited and Ms Brady was his constant companion.
“She seemed to be around all the time. Most of the time she was very helpful, but I could see that it was affecting her as well,” Mr Mulligan said.
He travelled back to Ireland in April 1999 to receive rehabilitation treatment near his parents’ home in Dun Laoghaire, although doctors told him he would never walk again.
“At the start I did not have any movement. I went to physio and I found movement in my shoulder,” Mr Mulligan told the court.
“After a while I found I was able to lift my arms, elevate them slightly - both my arms, but it was very slow.”
Mr Murray told Mr Justice Anthony Whealy that after the accident Garry had spent six weeks in intensive care in hospital and then had to live in a special jacket for three months.
He said Garry and Jennifer had met in 1991 and had lived together from 1992 in a house they bought and on which he had a mortgage.
They had planned to announce their marriage plans when they returned to Ireland in 1999. Mr Murray, who is leading a compensation action for an estimated 2.7 million damages for Garry, said an example of his loss of independence and privacy was demonstrated during the flight on which he returned home to Ireland.
He said Garry was on a stretcher which had been suspended from the ceiling of the plane and when the plane touched down in Dublin it became apparent the facilities for his safe removal from the aircraft were not available in Dublin.
He had to be flown to Belfast where he was taken off the plane and driven back to Dublin in an ambulance. He said he bought his house when he was 25, where he had lived with Jennifer until 1999. After the accident, he moved back into the family home at Donnycarney.
His current regime included remaining in bed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays when a district nurse attended to administer a suppository to clean his bowel. On the other four days, Tuesday, Thursday and weekends he had a personal care worker who could bring him out if he so wished.
According to an Irish census of 1996 a 33-year-old man could be expected to live to 74 on average but in Garry’s case this was now reduced to 61. Mr Murray said Garry’s sexual function had been destroyed and a family was now not possible.
His civil suit is against Coffs Harbour Borough Council and four New South Wales government agencies. His girlfriend, Jennifer, has also lodged a claim for nervous shock. The Australian court is expected to sit in Dublin for about two weeks and will resume in Sydney on September 30.
