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@jimmy8ball
Dunno if anyone's still interested, but we've got another update. I'd not really been able to comment as it's an ongoing civil case, but we put out a press release last night so now we can talk.
The driver of the truck was found criminally guilty last summer, so then we got to focus on the civil case, which is for damages. RSA, the insurance company acting on behalf of the vehicle owners (Brinks) had filed a counter suit claiming that Veronika should accept 20% of the liabilty and damages should be reduced as such. They were due to take her to court this month but just a week or so before, backed down and admitted 100% liability.
This is awesome news, as it means V will get 100% of damages. The next part of the fight is actually working out the amount.
Thought you might find it of interest if you know anyone in a similar situation. Despite evidence to the contrary, the insurers still tried to push some liability onto the victim, and then add the stress of another court appearance. So you just have to grind it out and not back down. The role of the defence's lawyers is to minimise damages and the role of ours is to maximise them. We'll meet somewhere in between.
I was thinking about putting some thoughts together on how this process works as there's a lot of stuff you just don't think about. Cases in point being that we've met people in similar situations who refused all help and became determined just to 'do it on their own', but it's very difficult to then go back and ask for help in housing, or prosthetics, or transport, or general care, because the defence will argue that you've 'proved' you don't need the help.
They'll try and prove plenty of stuff on their own accord as well though, because they'll hire a private detective to shoot video of the victim leaving the house or walking down the street. I guess they won't use the footage of said victim going sprawling on the pavement when they do try and walk down the street however.
Consider that a general purpose 'everyday' prosthetic leg with knee costs in the region of £50k. To get it working requires weeks of customisation which requires you to travel to the prosthetist. Then of course you put on weight, or lose weight, and it doesn't fit anymore. Process starts again. Course you can't get the leg wet and you can't run in it. You'll need another one for those tasks. Oh, and that £50k leg will probably need replacing in five years.
That's a lot of time, money and travel, and that's just one (very big) part of your life in rehabilitation. So if anyone thinks it might be useful I'll put together some info about what to expect when filing a claim for damages and just stuff to think about throughout the process.
Cheers all, and there's an article just gone up on the Standard site with a grainy CCTV shot of impending truck/cyclist collision here.