A young man who claimed he was negligently treated in hospital after suffering a savage street attack has failed in a bid for massive compensation.
The man, in his 20s, sustained “permanent and irreversible” brain damage after he was assaulted in Castle Street, High Wycombe, in July 2012.
He was found by police in the street - unconscious and bleeding, London’s High Court heard.
Paramedics rushed him to Stoke Mandeville Hospital and he was later transferred to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital for brain surgery.
Medics there diagnosed a dangerous blood clot, but surgery could not save him from permanent brain injuries.
Despite making an “astounding recovery”, he is now mentally and physically disabled, requiring supervision and care.
Regardless of his difficulties, however, he was described in court as a “wonderfully flamboyant and vital character”.
He sued the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust over his treatment at Stoke Mandeville.
His QC, Susan Rodway, argued he would have made a near complete recovery had his condition been diagnosed and treated hours earlier.
Despite his skull fracture, more than two hours passed before he was sent for a CT scan, a delay which his lawyers argued was disastrous.
The trust admitted fault in not sending him for a scan soon after his arrival in A&E, the judge said. But NHS lawyers insisted the delay made no difference to the final tragic outcome.
After a six-day hearing at London’s High Court, Sir Alistair MacDuff backed the trust’s arguments.
“It is their case that with immediate and proper treatment he would have made no better recovery,” he told the court.
The negligent delay “made no material contribution” to the man’s injuries, the judge ruled, dismissing his damages claim.
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