I attach an article written outlining the case of a client of ours, Iain Gillham, and the truely remarkable story of his accident and ongoing recovery.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/10/16/liverpool-crane-collapse-driver-will-never-walk-again-100252-24943350/

I have just  read a lovely letter from a past paraplegic female client of mine the contents of which are below – such words of thanks truly make my most privileged of jobs a real pleasure.

This case was particularly interesting due to the differing problems thrown up by how paralysis affects women differently to men.

This client was riding as a pillion passenger on a motorcycle when she was knocked off by the negligent driving of a car driver. 

Dear Ed,

I can’t thank you enough.

I will never forget the moment you (first ) came to see me. When I saw how happy and normal ( sorry to use the phrase normal) you looked in your wheelchair and you gave me the courage and inspiration to realise my life wasn’t over just different. Rob and I feel blessed that we have you as a friend in our lives.

Jan and Rob

In June of this year I represented my client Stacey Williams in an internationally reported case in which a 24-year-old motorist, Richard Brown, killed three teenagers – one of whom was pregnant – and paralysed Stacey when he crashed at speed. Brown was subsequently jailed for 10 years in this high media profile case more of which is reported at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/8124461.stm

The below quoted article is from one of my clients who recently went to America to try some pioneering treatment.

The lure of a possible improvement in my condition (or was it the California sunshine) led my wife and I to trek some 5,500 miles to San Diego in October 2006. We went with hope and trepidation, and to be honest a certain amount of English cynicism, regarding the possibility of ‘recovery’. There was no medical intervention, no needles, no operations, just damn hard work to be done in the gym! I left some two weeks later, inspired both mentally and physically and with the additional goal of bringing the concept of Project Walk to the UK.

On my return from San Diego I continued my exercise plan at home. Repetitive exercise, thousands and thousands of times, some with a trainer, some done alone. My body had known how to walk for forty years, I wasn’t going to let it forget. I had to re-educate my nervous system, form new pathways to reroute signals, bypassing the damaged areas. With regular follow-ups by video link and email from Project Walk, the slight changes made to my routine on an ongoing basis keep my body awake and alert. My physical and mental gains have been enormous. I have hope. It is a managed and limited hope, but is hope and a goal just the same. I am currently working at Phase I and II of the programme and this has allowed me to remain free of medication for spasms, with increased muscle tone and bulk. I have none of the side effects of antispasmodic medications, nor have I had to endure further invasive procedures to control these. My core stability has improved both my posture and strength. With the increased muscle tone my skin has remained healthy and I have not experienced any of the skin issues so many SCI people are prone to. I’m not sitting on my bones quite so much! My cardiovascular fitness has improved and I am able to pick things up from the floor and sit up again without holding on to outside structures, I can balance unaided on any surface, my transfers have improved and in an emergency, I could just about crawl. To the able-bodied a fairly simple movement, but in the event of a fire, something that could save my life!

NASA and the Russian space programmes have both spent millions of dollars researching how the body reacts to reduced gravity, noting the loss of bone density and muscle mass and the deterioration in the nervous system without stimulation. They could have saved their money; all they needed to do was take a look at the environment of an SCI individual. The ‘hands off’ approach, pumped full of drugs to prevent spasms and given no hope of improvement in a power chair… action and reaction… you put nothing in, you get nothing out!

Irrelevant of our age, financial status, fitness, spinal cord injured or not, we all set ourselves goals, some attainable, some beyond the realms of possibility. I was never going to be content to literally just sit out my time in this world. I nearly lost my life and I was damn sure I was going to make the best of what I had left! I accept I will never run round the garden or play football again, but my goal is to stand unaided for transferring in and out of the car, or dressing… only a paralysed individual would know what a difference that would make to life! Project Walk and now Standing Start is all about what you can do, not what you can’t. There is no negativity. My goals and standards of accomplishment are mine and mine alone; I have been witness to much, much greater achievements. The testimonials on the website are real people, ordinary individuals who have had an SCI thrust upon them as they have been carrying out their normal day. Over the course of my visits I have met many of them and have shared their amazing stories.

I was brave enough (with the help of my wife!) and financially able to travel to the other side of the USA, many others do not have that good fortune. So, following three further visits, the latest in October 2008, Standing Start will open its first facility in the UK on 1 December 2008. Staffed by  qualified physiotherapists trained in the Project Walk methods, our centre is located in Cambridge, 50 miles from London and served by all the major routes, North to South, East to West and also Stansted Airport. Central to the UK, I hope our facility will be accessible to all.

Whilst I was in hospital my team won the ‘team of the year’ award at the national PI awards. This is such a GREAT accolade for the practice and the culmination of 10 years work building the team. The following is the press release……….

“Fletchers Solicitors wins Personal Injury Team of the Year award

At the Personal Injury Awards 2008 ceremony held in London on 4 November, the Serious Injury team at Southport-based specialist RTA and serious injury law firm Fletchers Solicitors was voted Personal Injury Team of the Year.

Accepting the award on behalf of Serious Injury team, Fletchers managing director Rob Fletcher commented: “This award should have been collected by the serious injury director Ed Fletcher but he is recovering from surgery. So without fear of immodesty I can say this award is richly deserved. I honestly don’t believe there is another team in the country that can match Ed and his colleagues for knowledge, experience, empathy and personal motivation. Their true reward is helping injured clients get a fair settlement and rebuild their lives. But this award – and the peer group recognition it signifies – are certainly very welcome. I believe this industry is making real strides towards a more enlightened and constructive way of treating seriously injured people. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the many companies and individuals who have worked in that spirit with Ed and his team to make possible the work they do.”

In deciding the award, the judges were specifically looking at the variety and type of work covered by the winning firm, good communication with clients and other parties to claims, innovations in management/systems, team-member job satisfaction, contribution to the wider legal community, and a principled approach to resolution, rehabilitation and costs management.

More than 300 PI professionals including solicitors, barristers, insurers, rehabilitation providers, and claims management companies were gathered for the ceremony held on 4 November at London’s Café Royal. The event was hosted by former BBC Legal Affairs Correspondent Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor of the Daily Telegraph and regular contributor to The London Standard and The Law Society Gazette. 

Established in 1987, Southport-based Fletchers Solicitors employs around 100 staff and handles RTA and serious injury claims on behalf of a range of clients in the insurance sector, specialising in particular in motorcycle injury cases.”

Last week I completed a settlement for a paraplegic client in the home counties which we were all delighted with. The claim settled for £1.95 million pounds but far more importantly the client had moved into fully adapted ground floor accommodation that was not ‘disabled looking’ but a FAMILY home for her and all her children – FOR LIFE. Keeping that continuity was essential to my client and feeling ‘normal’ was paramount – as it should be. She was a fun loving person pre spinal cord injury and with the right financial package and emotional support she is the same crazy, busy mum she always has been!

Although this lady has been a client a friendship has built up between me and the family due to the nature of the relationship and the case which no doubt shall remain strong for many, many years – indeed I very much hope that is the case.