A SCHOOLGIRL told the High court yesterday she became embarrassed when people described her as awkward because they did not know she had a problem her hands.
Gemma Lynch (16), of Brackenbush Park, Killiney, Co Dublin, who got nine honours in her Junior Cert, is suing two medical consultants and a hospital for negligence.
She told Mr Justice Kinlen she would like to have trained as a doctor but her condition prevented it.
Gemma, through her mother, Ms Patricia Lynch, who the previous day described her as a very bright girl, is suing Mr Hubert O'Connor, a gynaecologist, of Clyde Road, Dublin, Dr Brian Denham, a paediatrician, of Whinsfield, Sandyford, Co Dublin, and Mount Carmel Hospital.
The consultants have denied Ms Lynch's claims that she was born with spina bifida or that owing to their negligence and breach of duty there was a failure to diagnose the condition until 1986.
The court was told there was a history of spina bifida in the family, that Ms Lynch was born with a stub of flesh at the back of the neck which Dr Denham tied and which fell off days later.
In evidence yesterday, Ms Lynch said in primary school she could not hold crayons properly, had had to get help which made her unhappy and she cried for one or two years. She developed her own grip to hold a pen. She used to walk to school but might drop items.
She could not use scissors, button a shirt, tie shoelaces, sew, do up a zip, and could not baby sit because she could not change nappies. If she could not look after a child, she added, she did not have much "going" for her if later she wanted to have children. She would need some body to help her care for the children.
She had an operation for a mark on the back of her neck in 1994. There had been a hollow and everyone referred to it as a hole. She hated that. She understood the hole had been closed up as there was a danger it could become infected and she might get meningitis.
There were many things she wanted to do but could not. She could not be an air hostess. Being a doctor would have been her first choice but she could not do surgery and now thought she would like psychology.
A consultant in the Department of Neurosurgery at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital, Mr Thomas Francis Fannin, said he would be surprised if it had been suggested to witnesses that Ms Lynch had not got spina bifida.
He saw her in 1987 and got a history from her parents.
If she had been referred to a neurosurgeon in 1980 he believed the defect on her neck would have been explored and removed. In cross examination, Mr Fannin said he believed Mr Denham failed to establish a clear diagnosis and carried out inappropriate treatment.
Mr Murray McGrath SC, for the consultants and hospital, said the diagnosis made by their experts was that Ms Lynch's condition related to some impairment of the nervous system. Mr Fannin said it was another expression for spina bifida.
The hearing continues today.