Peter (24) is a carefree, optimistic boy with many friends with whom he enjoys kickboxing. He has enjoyed riding his scooter for years. He likes that. Never suffer from traffic jams. He easily overtakes all cyclists and he never arrives at his destination sweaty. Until the fun runs out from one day to the next.
On Thursday evening he is on his way to his boxing training. Peter goes there twice a week to burn off his energy. The sun is shining. He leaves a little too early, so he can take the slightly longer route and drive through the hilly landscape. Enjoying nature for a while, he thinks, until disaster strikes along the way.
Peter drives his scooter into a pothole. He takes a good thud and tries to break his fall with his hands. Passers-by are startled and stop to help Peter. He screams out in pain. Fortunately, the emergency services are quickly on the spot.
Pinched nerve
His left wrist was found to be broken in the hospital. The doctor wants Peter to operate immediately. The fracture is repaired by shortening Peter’s forearm slightly. “A simple procedure,” says the surgeon. He indicates that he has performed that operation more than once.
Peter enters the operation with full confidence the next morning, but during the operation things go wrong. A nerve gets pinched in the forearm, with serious consequences for Peter. In the weeks that follow, he has to go under the knife five times to free that pinched nerve in the arm.
Permanently disabled
Unfortunately, all those interventions were to no avail. His arm is constantly making uncontrolled movements. What exactly went wrong? And what will be the long-term consequences for Peter? An expert investigation is being initiated.
The outcome is not easy: Peter is declared ‘one-armed’, or ‘permanently disabled for 16%’. Peter is near despair. He works as a machine builder and needs his arms badly. How could this have gone so terribly wrong?
Long-term follow-up research
Peter is angry, sad and very worried about his future. He clearly needs help and is contacting me. I listen carefully to his story and am shocked by the gravity of the situation. My warrior blood starts flowing immediately. In no time at all, I have a medical adviser from the insurer on the phone to discuss the matter.
The advisor believes that Peter could have suffered a similar injury during boxing training. I am stunned by his response. Follow-up research is necessary. We must and will show that Peter could have suffered this injury as a result of this accident.
Incapacity for work
Several independent labor experts are investigating the case. Peter has another handicap: he is unable to take another job due to a severe form of ADHD. He can therefore not work with his hands, but also not with his head, as it turns out after the WIA inspection.
The consequences for Peter are dramatic: he is declared completely incapacitated for work at the age of 24. He is having a hard time processing and shares his concerns with me.
Compensation
In the meantime, he remains in suspense for a long time about the follow-up investigation. Then comes a positive message. Indeed, it turns out that Peter would not have suffered the injury if he had not had the accident. The damage is enormous: because he will not be able to work for the rest of his life, it concerns an amount of 740,000 euros. Including the other damage costs of 250,000 euros for all operations and recovery time, this amounts to a total amount of 990,000 euros.
After all that harrowing uncertainty, the news makes Peter happy. He will never regain his physical freedom of movement, that is a fact. But it is now also a fact that he no longer has to worry financially. And that gives him enough peace to accept his new life situation.
Arthur van Eelen
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