Kevin was cleaning a clay pigeon trap at work one day when the spring-loaded trap arm on the trap released into his face and jaw.
He was taken to A&E with pain in his jaw and bleeding to his face and mouth.
An x-ray was taken and Kevin was diagnosed with a comminuted jaw fracture – this meant that his jaw bone had broken into three or more pieces. They tried to wire his jaw together in A&E, but this didn’t work. Kevin was transferred to another hospital where he had surgery to fix the fracture with a metal plate.
Kevin had also had an upper molar tooth (one of the 3 teeth at the back of the mouth) knocked out in the accident, damage to three more teeth and a cut on his left cheek which has left a noticeable scar.
As well as the above injuries, Kevin had pain in his chest, neck and head, because of the altered posture because of his jaw pain. He also suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, which have both had a significant impact on his life leaving him with panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares and poor concentration.
Two years after his accident, Kevin still had numbness in his lower lip and chin, has pain and clicking in his jaw and this was made worse by eating hard foods. Lying on his left side also caused pain in his jaw.
We're rated‘Excellent’How We Helped Kevin
Kevin spoke to one of our Accident at Work Lawyers, Gulderen Salih, who submitted a claim to his employer. They accepted responsibility for his injuries.
Kevin couldn’t work for four months after his accident and also gave up cycling because it made him feel nervous and reminded him of his accident.
Gulderen managed to secure interim payments from the employer’s insurance company to pay for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to help with Kevin’s PTSD and depression and dental work on his damaged teeth.
Kevin couldn’t drive so he relied on his father to drive him to his medical and therapy appointments. Gulderen added in the time taken by his father and mileage he drove into the claim.
Not only did Gulderen get agreement from Kevin’s employer’s insurance company to pay for CBT and EDMR, she secured agreement from them to pay for 20 initial sessions and also 20 more sessions throughout his lifetime.
Gulderen sent Kevin for a medical examination and in his report, Kevin was told that his jaw pain would last 3 years post-accident. Unfortunately, the numbness in his lower lip and chin and the scarring is permanent.
The Outcome for Kevin
Gulderen highlighted the physical and emotional impact of Kevin’s injuries as well as his financial losses from the time he wasn’t working between 25 July and 3 December 2018.
As a result, Kevin was awarded £32,800 for his injuries, along with payment for his continuing EMDR therapy and we hope that Kevin can start to rebuild his life again.
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