Scared student sues epileptic for having a fit

EVEN The Biscuit would say she was taking the biscuit.

John Cage (aka The Biscuit), oddball lawyer of TV show Ally McBeal, has defended the weird and the wonderful, but never an epileptic sued for having a fit.

In a real life drama, Scottish student Yvonne Rennie went to court seeking compensation after witnessing a man in the throes of a seizure.

Not that Edwin Young lashed out at her as he lay helplessly thrashing on the ground, his body shaken by spasms.

Nor did his contorted face move her to summoning the paramedics. No, it scared her. It scared her so much that it brought on a fit of post traumatic stress.

Her pain had its price. Ms Rennie sued Mr Young for exposing her to his unfetching features, after he suffered a fit while driving his car, which subsequently went out of control and crashed into hers.

In court, Sheriff Michael Fletcher said, in a written judgment, that ‘as a result of the fit, his face was contorted and this led the pursuer (Ms Rennie) to believe he was having a heart attack and dying’.

“Passers-by removed the defendant from his car and placed him on the pavement to render him assistance. The sight of the defender lying on the pavement upset the pursuer.”

For this little upset, she was awarded the tidy sum of £3,500. Another £1,500 was thrown in for slight injuries as a result of the crash.

To top it all, Ms Rennie was awarded £1,000 for the fear of driving she had post-traumatically developed.

T’would give a man indigestion. Or in the case of John Cage, send his nose whistle into orbit.

Epilespy Action Scotland described the case as bizarre and said ‘you wouldn’t see it on the Ally McBeal show’.

“Does this mean you sue someone having a heart attack? Anyone who goes to a football match on a Saturday could see that happen,” a spokesman said.

The moral of the story? Take that look off your face, I can see through your seizure.