Father breaks down as he tells court €7m not enough to care for brain-injured son

The Four Courts Building, where the High Court sits, in Dublin. File picture

A father broke down in tears in the High Court as he told how he and his wife are on their own as they attempt to care for their brain-injured son, who has complex needs.

The father’s tears came as the family of the teenager settled for €7m an action over their son’s care at two hospitals after his birth. His dad told a judge he did not think “with the cost of everything” the €7m was enough.

The boy has spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, cannot speak, and requires around the clock care. He or his family cannot be identified by order of the court.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey, who called the case “sad and tragic”, was told that there was a litigation risk in the action and the €7m settlement offer was being recommended to the court. The settlement is without an admission of liability.

The father spoke directly to the judge.

We don’t have home help or carers as the companies who have carers don’t have people with the expertise to look after our son. We don’t have family support because our parents are elderly and frail.

“This is it, we are on our own," he said, breaking down in tears.

He told the court that while he understood the litigation risk, he had made calculations for the future and he thought he could just stretch €10m, but the €7m settlement was not enough.

“We are prepared to accept it. We will have to see what happens,” he told the court.

The boy, now aged 17, had, through his father, sued the HSE over the care he received at Wexford General Hospital and Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin over the care he received at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, after his birth in 2008.

There was, it was claimed, at Wexford General Hospital an alleged delay to diagnose and treat the baby’s necrotising enterocolitis, which is a disease affecting the intestine, and an alleged subsequent failure on the part of CHI Crumlin to provide adequate paediatric endocrine care after the baby was transferred there.

Against the HSE, it was further claimed there was an alleged failure to recognise that the baby was becoming systematically unwell and there was an alleged delay in transferring him from Wexford to the Dublin hospital.

Against CHI Ireland at Crumlin, it was claimed there was an alleged delay in the diagnosis of the baby’s congenital hypopituitarism, which is a condition involving the pituitary gland and treatment of the arising complications.

All of the claims were denied by both defendants and it was contended that the management of the baby's treatment was appropriate and consistent with a reasonable standard of care.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey thanked the father for his words, which he said would resonate with him for a long time. The judge said the teenager has great needs which will only increase as he advances further into life.

However, the judge said the litigation risk in the case was very considerable and there was the risk that if the case went ahead the teenager’s side could fail entirely or recover only a small fraction. As a result, he approved the €7m settlement.