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Our eyes are one of the most important organs in our body. As well as enabling us to see, they are also crucial in helping our brains to process and react to what is happening in the world around us. They are an integral part of our sensory nervous system and, as a result of this, when one or both of our eyes are damaged in an accident for which we were not to blame, the physical and psychological harm that this can cause is enormous.

As Abid Hussain, our resident Ophthalmological injury expert explains:

“Our eyes perform such a vital function that when we suffer an injury which causes any sort of damage, we can be left feeling devastated. As well as having to deal with pain and discomfort, there may be facial scarring that you need to come to terms with, you may find everyday tasks harder to do, you may experience a marked reduction in your quality of life and, where your injury has caused permanent damage, you may also face the difficult prospect of having to find ways to adapt to a life that will be very much changed from the one that you used to enjoy.”

Injuries caused through negligence

Where your injury is due to the careless or reckless behavior of someone else, like your employer if their failure to carry out an appropriate risk assessment resulted in you having an accident at work, then the impact of your injury is likely to be profound. Indeed, as Abid notes:

“It is not unusual in these circumstances for you to go through an emotional process that is similar to bereavement, and which starts with you feeling a sense of shock and disbelief before this quickly turns to anger and frustration, as you realize that the accident in which you were hurt could have been avoided if the person responsible had simply exercised more care.”

How 0ur trusted advisers can help you?

While there is nothing that we can do to change the past and undo the damage that has been caused, there are a number of things that we can do to help shape your future and to ensure that it is as bright as possible. Specifically, we can:

• Secure you the compensation that you deserve, given what you have been through and what lies ahead;
• Arrange for you to be assessed by an Ophthalmological specialist who will provide an independent opinion on your current condition and whether there is anything that can be done to improve your likely prognosis;
• Secure a place for you in a private hospital where this is desirable to ensure that any further treatment you require can be carried out as quickly as possible, or where any recommended treatment is not currently available on the NHS;
• Support you in accessing a range of rehabilitation and occupational therapies;
• Refer you to a private counselor, psychiatrist, psychologist or psychotherapist, to help you deal with accident-induced stress, anxiety, depression, flashbacks or PTSD; and
• Facilitate access to any specialist equipment or visual aids that you may require.

Easy to use service

To find out whether a claim may be possible, you simply need to contact us and ask for a free, no obligation assessment. By doing this, the facts of your case will be considered by one of our experienced lawyers who will tell you honestly whether they think a claim can be made and, if so, how much compensation you can expect to receive.

Where your chances of success are sufficiently high, and you decide that you would like us to deal with your claim, we will contact the person at fault to let them know your intentions and to invite them to admit liability and begin negotiations with us over an appropriate settlement sum.

Where negotiations are successful, it will usually be possible to resolve your claim without the need to go to court, and where liability is admitted at an early stage we can usually help you to secure an advance of any compensation you are likely to receive (known as an interim payment) in order to help tide you over financially while you wait for your claim to be signed off.

Where negotiations fail, and court action is required, you can rest assured that we will be there to support you every step of the way and to ensure that your case is presented in the best light possible and that you achieve a good result.

You can also relax when it comes to the cost of funding your claim, as most cases can be dealt with on a no win, no fee basis.

When a claim may be possible

A claim for compensation can usually be made where you can show that your eye injury was caused by someone who failed to take reasonable care to ensure your health and safety, in circumstances where there was a legal obligation on them to do this.

This might be the case where your injury occurred as a result of:

• An accident at work;
• A road traffic accident;
• A slip, trip or fall in a public place;
• A dog bite or animal attack;
• A mistake made by a medical professional (known as medical negligence); or
• A criminal act or terrorist attack in which you were an innocent bystander.

However, it is important that you seek legal advice early as there are strict time limits within which you must act. In most cases this is three years from the date on which the injury occurred or you became aware that an injury had been sustained. This time limit will be reduced to two years where you are claiming in respect of most types of criminal injury and in some instances where your injury occurred in an accident abroad.

Types of injury, we can deal with

We have experience in dealing with a wide range of eye injuries, including very serious injuries which have resulted in total blindness and which may even lead to eventual death. This includes claims involving eye cancer (carcinomas) which has been caused by exposure to toxic substances or materials at work and which can therefore be classed as an industrial injury.

Our team can also help where you have sustained an orbital fracture, a scratched cornea, a detached retina, a thermal or chemical burns, penetration of the eye with a sharp object, loss of an eye or the development of cataracts or glaucoma which have resulted in blurred or double vision or an increased sensitivity to light.

We can also assist where treatment to correct an existing eye condition has gone wrong, such as where you have undergone negligently performed laser eye surgery or an attempted retina reattachment or corneal transplant.

Compensation amount

The amount of compensation you receive will depend on the extent to which you have been injured, together with a variety of other things, including your age, the extent to which you can be expected to make a full or partial recovery, the impact your injury will have on your ability to work and on your general quality of life, and on whether you will need any degree of ongoing care and support. Minor injuries may result in a payment of a few thousand pounds, whereas major injuries with life changing consequences could result in a six or seven figure sum.

Depending on the circumstances of your case, it may be possible to claim compensation for:

• Your physical pain and suffering, together with any associated mental anguish;
• Your loss of pleasure in everyday life and in hobbies you can no longer pursue;
• Expenses you have had to incur, for example, in travelling to hospital, paying for prescriptions and replacing property that was damaged in the accident in which you were hurt;
• Any loss of earnings you have had to sustain or will sustain going forward;
• Any specialist equipment you have had to purchase or will need to acquire;
• Any home or vehicle adaptations that you have or will need to make;
• Your need to employ someone to help around the house or garden; and
• Your need at some point to move into an assisted living facility or a residential care home.

Please see our blog on how personal injury compensation is calculated for further details.

Next step

In order to find out more about making an eye injury compensation claim, please call us now on 0800 1956412 and ask to speak to Abid Hussain or Anna Rushton for claims arising out of a personal injury and Dominic Jones for claims arising out of medical negligence.

Free, no risk advice

It costs nothing to find out whether a claim may be possible as we offer a free initial consultation. We can also usually act under a no win, no fee agreement, which means that you can make a claim without any upfront cost and with no liability to pay us anything if your claim does not succeed.

We also offer a free Polish translation service should you need it – just contact our in-house interpreter Agnieszka Kulas on 01270 254064, by email to agnieszkakulas@steplegal.co.uk
Or via Facebook Messenger @StepLegalSolicitors or Agnieszka Kulas Step Legal.