Music student needs 24-hour care following car crash

A music student suffered a devastating brain injury after her car was rear-ended on the way to a Christmas carol service five years ago, the High Court heard yesterday.

Hazel McGarrigle, who was a masters student at the Cork School of Music, remains minimally conscious, cannot speak or walk, and needs 24-hour care.

Ms McGarrigle’s visual perception is also restricted and she can only follow pictures, but her hearing is intact.

Ms McGarrigle now 30, of Drumstevlin House, Donegal, has sued through her father Noel McGarrigle, the driver of the other car, Breda Broderick of Sycamores, Classes Lake, Ovens, Co Cork, as a result of the accident at Carrr’s Hill, Carrigaline, Co Cork, on December 15, 2009.

It is claimed that Ms McGarrigle was lawfully driving her car when the other car collided with the rear of the vehicle propelling Ms McGarrigle’s car into a vehicle directly in front. At the time, Ms McGarrigle was second in line to turn out onto a main road.

The case is before the court for assessment of damages only. Opening the case, Eugene Gleeson said Ms McGarrigle suffered devastating inter-cranial injuries and was taken to Cork University Hospital. A CT scan showed a right-sided subdural haematoma with bleeding in the brain.

She was airlifted to Letterkenny General Hospital in 2010 and her family began looking after her at home after that.

Her mother Noeleen McGarrigle said her daughter was absorbed in music and loved it from an early age. She planned to go on to do a PhD in music. At the time of the accident, she was researching a contemporary French composer as part of her work.

She told the court she had spoken to her daughter one hour before the accident. She said her daughter worked with a primary school and was on the way there to conduct the carol service.

“It was a very different phonecall over an hour later. They did not give us many details. We gathered it was very bad and we drove to Cork,” she said.

The family stayed by Ms McGarrigle’s bedside and twice were told that she might not survive.

Ms McGarrigle turns her head when she hears a member of her family and recognises voices and smiles, her mother said.

“We keep talking to her. She was totally absorbed in music. It was all she wanted to do,” she said, adding that, before the accident, her daughter was very outgoing and very ambitious.

The case before Ms Justice Mary Irvine continues.