Adam Fuller, from West Brompton, London, was involved in a serious traffic accident when a speeding lorry slammed into the side of his car as it sped through a red light. Mr Fuller’s vehicle was hit at a great speed and his car turned upside down. Accounts from onlookers described the accident as ‘horrific’. Paramedics cut Mr Fuller, unconscious at the time, out of his car and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance. As a result of the crash, Mr Fuller was left unable to walk. His knees had been badly damaged and although hospital staff were able to repair a lot of the injuries, the pain in both of Mr Fuller’s knees was so excruciating that it left him unable to walk, even though he had feeling in both of his legs below and above his knees.
The hospital doctors were not entirely sure what was causing this terrible pain in Mr Fuller’s knees. A number of tests were carried out, though nobody could find one definitive reason for the pain. However, everybody agreed that the injuries were directly a result of the car accident Mr Fuller had been involved in. Mr Fuller was finally discharged from the hospital with a pair of crutches and was told that a wheelchair would be available for him to use if he wished to use one.
When Mr Fuller returned home, he describes his life as being ‘turned upside down’. He could no longer play with his two young children, who were aged five and seven, and he was forced to leave his job as a structural engineer, as he could no longer work on building sites. Mr Fuller quickly became very depressed and was prescribed medication for this by his GP. It was Mr Fuller’s wife who suggested that the family should look seriously into making a traffic accident compensation claim. She was deeply worried about her husband at this point and blamed his terrible injuries and emotional state on the traffic accident.
At around the same time that the Fuller family began to look into traffic accident compensation claims, the hospital Mr Fuller had been treated at gave them a phone call and asked them to come in for a consultation. At this appointment, the consultant at the hospital notified the Fullers about a new medical option that may be open to the Fullers. He explained that the hospital had seen a number of cases where the cause of pain could not be medically identified and that the hospital was taking part in a trial concerning such patients. The Fullers were delighted; however they were worried about the costs. This new treatment would cost £3,000. Since Mr Fuller had been forced to leave his work, the family simply did not have this kind of money. They realised now how important it was that they received their traffic accident compensation claim – it could be the key to curing Mr Fuller and allowing him to walk again.
The Fullers returned home after the hospital appointment and began to put together as strong a case as they could so that their solicitors would stand the best chance in securing a high sum of compensation. They wrote a document which contained the details of the accident, collating eye-witness accounts, the specific injuries and treatment Mr Fuller had suffered, the enormous impact his knee injuries were having on his life and the resulting depression he was suffering as a result of the injury. They also put together a chart of all the medical costs so far incurred and the financial losses they had suffered as a family as a result of Mr Fuller losing his job. Finally they documented how much Mr Fuller’s new treatment would cost and how important it was that they afford it.
The case turned out to be a very successful one and the Fuller’s secured everything they had wanted. The new treatment went underway at the hospital in the following month. Following the treatment, Mr Fuller found the best results possible – he was able to walk again. ‘My traffic accident compensation money has truly got my life back for me, ‘ Mr Fuller says, ‘I am now able to play with my children, I have got my job back and I no longer need to take medication for depression.’
