One goundsman injured whilst on the job at a motor racing circuit in Wiltshire recently won his work accident claim against his employer, leading to a personal injury compensation payout in excess of £2 million.
Chippenham native David Johnson, sixty three years of age, had been employed by the Castle Combe race track nearby his home for more than two decades prior to the life-changing injuries that led to his accident claim. Mr Johnson had been collecting hoardings as part of a team to recover the metal advertising boards from the back of a flat-bed truck after the 2008 racing season had come to a close at the time of the incident, London’s High Court was told.
Mr Johnson and one of his colleagues sat on the hoardings as they were loaded into the truck in order to keep them secured as the truck made its way around the circuit. However, one of the advertising boards was caught by a freak gust of wind, blowing both it and the unfortunate worker off the back of the flat-bed truck, leading to a fall and severe head injury being sustained by the groundsman, leaving him with serious bran damage and having to depend on outside care for his everyday needs.
In the wake of a new compensation settlement being reached, Mr Johnson stands to receive a £2 million lump sum payment to be followed by index linked annual payments of at least £205,000 in order to provide his ongoing care costs for however long he may live. The injured man can now, thanks to the settlement, leave the rehabilitation centre he had been housed in since the incident and instead return home to his wife.