Tetraplegic awarded $2.3M damages

Press, 14 June 1984, Page 14

Tetraplegic awarded $2.3M damages

NZPA-AAP Sydney A young farmer rendered tetraplegic and in need of 24-hour attention for life after a road accident has been awarded $2.3 million damages against his mother and girlfriend by the New South Wales Supreme Court. Roderick Siems, aged 28, of Euroa, in northern Victoria, suffered a fractured skull and severe abdominal injuries in an accident near Macksville, in northern New South Wales, in August, 1980.

Giving his judgment, Mr Justice Greenwood said Mr Siems had graduated as dux from Doogie Agricultural College, near his parents’ property at Euroa. After the accident, Mr Siems spent nine weeks unconscious in an intensivecare unit and then underwent extensive surgery. He

had developed epilepsy and other complications and could barely communicate through a system of blinking.

However, intelligence tests using pictures had showed his I.Q. to be 134, which his Honour said indicated “the continued existence of a thinking and understanding mind.” While it was not possible to judge accurately Mr Siems’ life expectancy, his Honour said some aspects of his medical future were uncertain. “He will never walk nor talk.

“He will be unable to take sufficient food orally to sustain himself — it is most probable that ... he will continue to be fed through his stomach,” his Honour said.

“He will always be an

epileptic and will require permanent medication to control this condition.

“He will be dependent on others for his every need.”

His Honour said that in November, 1983, he had found Winifred Dorothy Siems, the plaintiffs mother and owner of the car, and Jeanette Haylock, the driver, guilty of negligence. Mrs Haylock was living with Mr Siems before the accident. She was a married woman who had been separated from her husband for many years.

“She has now expressed a desire to marry the plaintiff, although before the accident she and the plaintiff apparently had no such intention,” his Honour said. His Honour granted a 28day stay of proceedings provided $1.25 million was paid to court within 14 days.