Boxer who swallowed dental instrument settles claim

Irish boxing champion, Ceire Smith, who claimed her career was damaged after she swallowed a sharp dental instrument during root-canal treatment, has settled her High Court action.

The 25-year old Cavan BC flyweight could have been the next Katie Taylor and could have qualified for the Rio Olympics, 2016, her counsel, Michael J McMahon, SC, told the High Court at the opening of the case.

Boxing coach, Billy Walsh, flew in from Colorado, in the US, and was due to give evidence that Ceire Smith would have qualified for Rio 2016 and was expected to get a medal.

When the case was called before Mr Justice Moriarty, yesterday, he was told it had been settled. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

The judge said he was very glad to hear the case had been resolved and said, having read the papers in the action overnight, it was a “troubling case”.

He wished Ms Smith every success in the future, in the advancement of her career.

Ceire Smith had sued her dentist, and the HSE, after the sharp instrument dropped down her throat during root-canal treatment in October, 2013, but she was told it would pass through her system.

Instead, her counsel told the court, it travelled inside her body, lodging near her hip, only centimetres from her femoral artery.

The instrument was eventually taken out of the boxer’s body, in September, 2014, during surgery. Counsel handed in pictures to the court of the instrument, which he said was a sharp, barbed broach.

During this time, the boxer was in training as an elite athlete to go for qualifiers to compete in the Rio Olympics, Mr McMahon said.

“In a nutshell, Billy Walsh will say she would have qualified for Rio 2016. Irish ladies’ boxing was going through a golden era and Billy Walsh will say she was the next Katie Taylor and she would have got a medal,” counsel told Mr Justice Michael Moriarty, at the opening of the case.

Ms Smith, a student from Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, had sued her dentist, Rachael Frazer, with a dental practice at Church Street, Cavan, and the HSE.

Liability had been admitted in the case, which was before the court for assessment of damages only.

She claimed the dentist failed to use dental floss, or other material, to attach to the instrument, so it could be retrieved and not swallowed, and advised Ms Smith the piece of equipment would be passed by her in days and “it was just a little bit of metal”.

Against the HSE, Ms Smith claimed that there was a failure to refer her on to a gastroenterologist, who could have arranged imaging to track and check on the position of the instrument and undertake appropriate management.

She further claimed she was advised she was fit to box.

Ms Smith competed in the multi-nations in March, 2014, in Germany, but claimed she felt very weak and performed badly. In April of that year, she competed in Poland and lost, and had severe abdominal pain.

After investigations, she had two bouts of surgery and the instrument was removed from her body at the end of September, 2014.