Amputee Awarded £35,000 for Fall

A double leg amputee who fell on a poorly maintained footpath and injured his arm has been awarded £35,000 in compensation.

Colin Adamson had previously lost part of both legs as a result of a road traffic accident in 1991. He later had an operation to add muscle to his left elbow in order to make it easier for him to use it to maintain his stability when walking.

However, when he fell on a cracked step on a housing estate in 2007, he landed heavily on his left arm and required surgery to have screws and plates inserted into the same elbow. This resulted in severely reduced movement in the elbow joint, which has had an impact on his ability to walk.

Mr Adamson brought a claim against the local authority responsible for maintaining the estate. Although the area has since been surfaced with tarmac, photographs were produced which showed the condition of the steps at the time the accident occurred. An engineer confirmed that they were in a dangerous condition at that time. The judge agreed that the steps posed a danger to the public and that Mr Adamson had taken reasonable care when climbing them. He could not have foreseen the danger and the authority had failed to take account of the risk posed to pedestrians by the damaged flagstone.