A woman, who was had the opportunity to compete in the Special Olympics taken away from her by hospital negligence, has had the settlement of her knee fracture misdiagnosis claim approved at the High Court.
In May 2009, Amy Rose McGowan was in training for the Special Olympics World Games in Athens – the world’s largest sporting gathering for children and adults with intellectual disabilities – when she fell and injured her knee during a fifty metre sprint race.
Amy Rose (now 31 years of age) was taken to Our Lady´s Hospital in Navan; where doctors failed to recognise a depressed fracture on an x-ray and diagnosed her with a soft tissue injury. Several months later, Amy Rose attended her GP because of an ongoing a pain in her knee. Her GP discovered the depressed fracture of the knee, but too late for Amy Rose to undergo corrective surgery.
Amy Rose made a knee fracture misdiagnosis claim for compensation against the Health Service Executive (HSE) through her mother Charlotte McGowan, claiming that the care, diagnosis and treatment she had received in the Emergency Department of Our Lady’s Hospital had been negligent and responsible for being unable to attend the Special Olympics World Games in Athens.
Liability was conceded by the HSE, who acknowledged that Amy Rose´s depressed fracture had been overlooked at the hospital, and a €142,000 settlement of compensation for a knee fracture misdiagnosis was agreed between the HSE and Amy Rose´s legal representatives.
Because of Amy Rose´s intellectual disability, the settlement of the knee fracture misdiagnosis claim had first to be approved by a judge and, at the High Court in Dublin, Mr Justice Michael Peart heard how before her accident Amy Rose won 34 medals and 10 trophies in swimming and athletics.
The judge invited Amy Rose to show her medals and trophies to the court and said that he was “very impressed and full of admiration”. After approving the settlement of Amy Rose´s claim, Judge Peart wished her a happy life with her family before adjourning the hearing.
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