Teenager struck by hurley awarded €550,000

A teenager who suffered life-altering injuries when struck in the head by a hurley thrown across a schoolyard, has been awarded €550,000 in compensation by the school’s insurers.

A hurley thrown across a schoolyard struck a 13-year-old first-year student in the head causing him injuries which altered the course of his life — and yesterday the teenager was awarded €550,000 compensation by the school’s insurers.

Gary Hynds had nothing to do with the group of boys who were messing with hurleys on that day back in April 2012 but he is still living with the consequences today.

“The plaintiff was not part of that group. It was a hurley that was thrown and no one even noticed he suffered injury before he arrived at the matron’s office,” John Lucey, senior counsel, said at the High Court sitting in Cork yesterday.

The then 13-year-old did not pass a teacher as he walked to the office, a distance of more than 70 metres from the place where he was struck and sustained a fractured skull, Mr Lucey said.

Mr Lucey said the defendant — the school where Gary Hynds of Dungarvan, Co Waterford, was attending, St Augustine’s College, Dungarvan — offered €550,000 in settlement of the action, but had the case gone to hearing there would have been an issue with liability as far as the defence were concerned.

Mr Lucey said that the settlement represented close to the full value of the case which he put at somewhere in the region of €600,000 to €650,000.

The plaintiff is now 17 and he brought the action through his father, Tony Hynds of Dungarvan, the managing director of a pharmaceutical company.

Mr Hynds testified yesterday: “Obviously it has been a traumatic few years for us. He has dropped out of school (at fifth year). Gary’s ability to concentrate has greatly diminished.

“Our concern is what his earning power would be now compared to before the incident. His path would probably have led him to third-level had this not happened.”

Mr Hynds said his son had great get-up-and-go, did not want to be unemployed, and was studying the options open to him possibly for a trade rather than for academia. “He would like to have a business for himself and invest in that. Obviously there is his whole life ahead of him, he is only 17,” Mr Hynds said.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott directed the plaintiff’s solicitors, Ernest Cantillon, to pay out €87,000 in respect of special damages for medical and related expenses incurred to date. The balance of €550,000 will be lodged for the benefit of the plaintiff.

The plaintiff’s mother, who died last month after an illness, and his father were described by the judge as extremely supportive of their son.

Mr Justice McDermott said in the course of his approval of the settlement offer: “Gary Hynds had nothing to do with it; he did nothing to invite it; he did not attract it. It hit him in the head which caused him severe injuries, which gave rise to these proceedings. It appears he walked to the nearby matron and he did not encounter any teacher on the way. He sustained a depressed fracture of the skull.”

The judge referred to the medical reports’ description of the treatment of the injury resulting in a satisfactory outcome but he said that unfortunately the term satisfactory outcome did not cover all the sequelae from the injury including epilepsy and the psychological consequences and trauma.