Woman suing UCD compares pain from lifting box of brochures to 'being stabbed in the neck'

Thu, 01 Oct, 2020 - 17:13

Ann O’Loughlin

A Corporate Relations Manager who claims she injured her neck as she attempted to pick up a box of information leaflets at an event in Budapest to promote UCD has sued the university in the High Court.

Jacqueline Ashmore told the court she felt “overwhelming and extreme pain” in her neck when she lifted the box eight inches from the ground at the UCD stand at the Hungarian university.

“Something awful had happened there was this horrendous pain. I knew it was the box,” she said.

It was like somebody had stabbed me in the neck. I thought I was going to vomit.

The 57-year-old woman who had worked for UCD for 24 years and whose case includes a claim for loss of earnings and pension totalling over €700,000 had to stand in the witness box at times as she gave her evidence to the court. She has claimed she has been left with complex pain syndrome, has pain in her neck and down one side of her body and has a condition which means her neck is tilted to the right after the accident.

Before the accident, she said she liked to run and walk and she had a stepper in her office. Now, she said she feeds the birds in her garden, listens to audio books and watches TV.

“I have a PHD in Only Fools and Horses,” she told Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy.

Ms Ashmore was in Budapest in November 2016 as UCD sought corporate partners. She said after dropping the box, she got somebody to open it and spread some brochures on the desk and worked for an hour “taking deep breaths.” She went to Beaumont Hospital A&E on her return to Dublin.

Opening the case, Ms Ashmore’s counsel Diarmuid P O’Donovan SC with Declan Buckley SC told the court Ms Ashmore’s life has been turned upside down by the accident.

“She has become a virtual recluse in her own home. She would love to work but she is not able,” Counsel said.

It has severely damaged her life.

Jacqueline Ashmore (aged 57) from Santry, Dublin has sued her employer UCD as a result of the accident on November 16, 2012, when she was working as a corporate relations manager and attended Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary on behalf of UCD.

It is claimed she attempted to lift the box of information brochures which were stored under the UCD table and she suffered immediate pain in her neck and back.

She has claimed a box full of material was provided which was too heavy for her and allegedly caused injury.

She has further claimed there was an alleged failure to adequately or at all notify her of the weight of the box and an alleged failure to provide her with any or any adequate training in the manual handling of loads, safety and health and welfare at work.

UCD has denied the claims and contends there was alleged contributory negligence on Ms Ashmore’s behalf and she allegedly failed to take account of any hazard represented by the weight or size of the box.

It has further claimed there was an alleged failure to simply remove the brochures from the box without having to lift the box.

The case before Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy continues on Friday.