€2.5m for teenager injured in crash

A teenager today received €2.5m compensation for serious injuries he received in a road accident almost six years ago.

Danny Walsh from Pearse Road, Ballyphehane, Cork, was only 16 years old when he was in the horrific car crash after a day trip to Crosshaven on Sunday May 3, 1999. Now 22, he is incapable of living independently and will need assistance for the rest of his life.

Julia Walsh said her son was always a happy, chatty and out-going boy who enjoyed playing football.

The plaintiff’s sister, Celine, said that in a way the amount of the award did not have a lot of meaning as it was all the money he was going to have to live the rest of his life and to pay for the care that he would need.

Solicitor, Frank Buttimer, who brought the case to the High Court in Cork, had this to say yesterday after the successful settlement of the action against the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland and the other named defendant, the uninsured driver of the crashed car, John Paul Heffernan of 35

Loughmahon Road, Mahon, Cork: “Danny is extremely grateful to all the medical staff at Cork University Hospital and the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire and he appreciates that without their intervention he not be alive today or would not enjoy the quality of live he has managed to achieve following the horrific injuries he suffered in the accident.

"He is grateful to his family and friends for the support they offered him since the time of the

accident.”

The offer approved by Mr Justice Liam MacKechnie was lodged in court for the benefit of Danny Walsh. Because serious injuries are a feature of the case there will be an application to the President of the High Court to have the plaintiff made award of court for the purposes of administering the payment of money in the course of his lifetime.

Paul Barry from Roselawn, Togher, Cork, a front seat passenger in the car, at the time that it crashed into a wall, died as a result of his injuries.