One boy from Hertfordshire has recently been awarded a £6.4 million personal injury compensation for his serious birth injuries.
Now eight years old, Welwyn Garden City native Theo Kramer suffers from both cerebral palsy and quadriplegia as a result of his injury claims. Theo cannot sit or walk without constant care. Additionally he cannot communicate without the aid of a speech synthesiser.
Theo was born in Burnt Oak’s Edgware Birth Centre. Unfortunately during his birth a student nurse neglected to notice that Theo’s hart rate had dropped during the delivery. As a result the speed of Theo’s delivery was not increased. A further issue compounding the situation is that there were subsequent delays in transferring Theo and his mother to Barnet General Hospital after the delivery.
Theo’s mother and father, Janet and Earnie Kramer, filed a personal injury claim on their son’s behalf against both Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust. The Kramers’ medical negligence solicitors have been demonstrating faults on the part of the hospital staff.
One such allegation being made is that then 38-year-old Mrs Kramer was incorrectly admitted to Edware Birth Centre because this was her first pregnancy; the centre’s policy explicitly states that no first-time mothers under the age of 35 are to be admitted.
After a trial, the High Court made the decision to approve a £6.4 million payment to the Kramer family. The payment compensation will be comprised of one large lump sum at first. Then every year Theo and his family will receive index-linked payments which ensure the young child will receive the ’round the clock care and medical attention he requires.
Mr and Mrs Kramer were not available for comment in the wake of the court’s decision to approve the multi-million pound payout.