A judge has praised the “truly heroic” efforts of a woman in caring for her daughter, who the High Court heard developed neurological deficits after having surgery to remove a brain tumour more than 20 years ago.
The woman said she’d had “two heart attacks in the past” and claimed the HSE has turned down her application to have a nurse care for her daughter, now in her 30s, one night a week.
The woman was speaking as her daughter settled an action for €1.3 million over her care when she had brain tumour surgery at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in 2001.
The settlement is on the basis of a liability apportionment of just 10 per cent against the HSE. Mr Justice Paul Coffey ordered that the family not be identified.
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The woman’s senior counsel, Dr John O’Mahony, instructed by Vincent Toher Solicitors, told the court it was “a very complex, heartbreaking and devastating case”.
Counsel said the woman’s daughter was found to have a very large brain tumour when she was eight. Without the surgery, he said, the girl would only have survived for six to nine months.
However, he said it was their case that after the surgery at CUH, the girl’s vision was turned down to the left and she was left with neurological deficits, including cognitive impairment, deafness and epilepsy.
Now in her 30s, the woman cannot walk unaided, has to use a wheelchair, requires full-time care and will never be able to live independently, Dr O’Mahoney said.
Counsel said it was their case that while a CT scan was taken before the woman’s brain surgery, an MRI scan – which “would have illuminated and given a broader picture” as to how to plan for the brain surgery – was not done.
The MRI, it was contended, would have given an indication of brainstem involvement with the tumour and could have influenced the surgical approach.
All of the claims in the proceedings were denied.
The woman’s mother told the judge her daughter “was skipping and dancing on the ward” before the surgery, but was “like a rag doll” afterwards.
She said she and her husband have looked after their daughter for the last 24 years “and done everything for her”.
“I have had two heart attacks. I have pleaded with the HSE for a nurse one night a week and they won’t give it. My daughter’s wheelchair is five years old, my daughter who suffers from seizures, is a prisoner in her own home,” she told the judge.
She said the HSE did give the family 15 hours a week and the Irish Wheelchair Association allotted seven hours a week, but her daughter needs full-time care and she and her husband have to provide it.
Mr Justice Coffey said the woman and her husband were to be saluted for their “truly heroic” efforts over the last 24 years.
Approving the settlement, the judge said there were “formidable difficulties” in the case and, in the circumstances, the offer was adequate.
