A 20-year-old woman was awarded £1.5 million yesterday for the road crash injuries which ruined her life.
Ms Edel McArdle, from Garrison Place, Charlemont, Co Tyrone, is partially paralysed and has needed round-the-clock nursing care since the accident five years ago. She cannot talk and communicates with the aid of a laptop computer. Ms McArdle was a schoolgirl when she suffered brain damage after the car in which she was a passenger was in collision with another vehicle.
In the High Court in Belfast, her mother, Sadie, acting on her behalf, sued the driver and owner of the car in which she was travelling. Mr Adrian Colton, who appeared for Ms McArdle with Mr Alan Comerton QC, announced that the action had been settled out of court. Mr Justice Sheil approved the full settlement figure of £1,538,457.
Afterwards, Mr Liam Mallon, solicitor, paid tribute to the loving care Ms McArdle receives from her mother.
Mr Mallon said Ms McArdle hoped to obtain purpose-built accommodation rather than spend the rest of her life in an institution.