Grandchild sues grandparent over car accident

A university student is suing her own grandmother and the hospital which cared for her following a life-threatening car accident.

The 20-year-old suffered brain damage, septicaemia and a heart attack at the Oxford hospital where she was treated, after the Fiat Punto she was travelling in collided with an oncoming car in April 2003.

Operations needed to repair her back, abdomen and pelvis left her paralysed and insensitive to pain, but she made a remarkable recovery – and was walking again by the following July.

With the support of two teaching assistants and a course worker she went on to gain nine GCSEs and three A levels, and currently studies Psychology and Counselling at Swansea Metropolitan University.

In court, her grandmother's insurers have admitted liability for the car crash, and legal advisors for the hospital admit she received substandard care.

Now her personal injury lawyers say the NHS will pay out both on the grounds of medical negligence and to compensate her for injuries sustained in the crash.

However, the two legal teams have yet to agree on how much of the £300,000 car accident compensation claimed the woman will actually receive.