SINGAPORE — A nine-year-old boy, who suffered irreparable brain damage and became a quadriplegic after being knocked down by a driver who ran a red light in the middle of the day, has been awarded more than S$1.25 million (RM3.306 million) in damages by the High Court.
The sum the driver has to pay includes damages for the boy’s pain and suffering, his loss of future earnings and medical expenses in the years ahead. Both the boy and the car driver have filed appeals against the court’s decision, which will be heard in February.
The accident, which took place at a signalised pedestrian crossing along Jurong East Avenue 1 on July 6, 2011, left the boy, who is now 12, with the intellectual ability of a 12-month-old baby, said a judgment delivered on Nov 21, which was made public yesterday.
Once active in sports, he is now bedridden, requires around-the-clock care and has to be fed a liquid diet through a tube.
Yesterday, the boy’s lawyer Michael Han said an eyewitness said the boy was “flung up high and continuously hit several times” by the car that had beat a red light.
He sustained severe traumatic brain injury and was warded in intensive care for more than five weeks.
Five medical experts who testified at the civil suit estimated that the boy would live up to 38 years old, adding that surgery, rehabilitation and physiotherapy sessions will be a mainstay for the rest of his life. For instance, he will have to undergo tendon-lengthening operations and Botox infusions to reduce muscle spasticity.
The court also heard that the boy has a higher chance of contracting pneumonia and respiratory infections, such as the common cold, compared with a normal child.
“Clearly, the accident had adversely affected the plaintiff and the lives of his family members,” said Assistant Registrar Jean Chan, who heard the case.
She ordered the driver to pay S$1,252,825.86 in damages in total, including S$190,000 for the boy’s pain and suffering, S$233,878.14 for his loss of future earnings and S$317,380.75 for future medical expenses.
Damages were also awarded for the loss of future earnings for the boy’s mother, who had to quit her job as a receptionist in a law firm to care for him full-time.
She is now being assisted by a domestic helper.
Chan also made an order that the boy may apply for future damages within three years from the judgment date if he requires a permanent tracheostomy — an operation that creates an opening through the neck to bypass an obstructed airway — as a result of contracting pneumonia. — TODAY
