'End of a long journey' for Mayo teenager Róisín as settlement reached

A Mayo teenager has been awarded a €4 million settlement after being left paralysed from a neck injury due to a fall 13 years ago.

Róisín Tansey (17), Swinford, had a rare underlying condition which resulted in serious injury after she fell while playing on an armchair when she was aged three.

She told RTÉ News that while "justice has been served," the settlement will not give her back what she has lost.

Her legal representatives claimed that if she had been diagnosed and treated sooner, the full extent of her injuries could have been prevented.

The claims were denied but the case was settled after mediation.

The court was told that, as a young child, Róisín had a condition where her brain tissue extended into the spinal canal.

It had not been diagnosed when, at the age of three and a half, she fell from an armchair at home on the evening of January 11, 2013.

When Róisín complained afterwards of weakness in her arms, she was taken by ambulance to Mayo University Hospital.

X-rays were normal but staff became concerned that she had a progressive neurological problem and a decision was taken to transfer her to Temple Street hospital in the early hours of 12 January.

It was decided that Róisín needed an MRI as soon as possible, but it was 12 p.m. that afternoon by the time she had it.

The weakness in her limbs continued and an MRI revealed she had a condition known as a Chiari malformation.

Róisín was transferred to intensive care and later had surgery but her lawyers claimed that by then she was paralysed.

She spent months in hospital and rehab and now uses a wheelchair, is paralysed from the neck down and needs constant nursing care.

Through her mother, Róisín sued Children's Health Ireland.

"While I am tremendously relieved and grateful that this ordeal is now over, in reality, it changes little," she told RTÉ News.

"This marks the end of a long journey that has weighed heavily on my family and I for the past nine years.

"I am pleased that it's at an end, and I can move on with my life in the knowledge that justice has been served.

"While there has been much focus on the course of these proceedings, and on what I have lost, I remain grateful for what I have, the support of my family and friends.

"Today's settlement gives me back nothing of what I lost, nor of what my family lost, when this happened to me.

"I am also deeply grateful to my legal team for their dedication and perseverance with which they handled this case.

"While I am tremendously relieved and grateful that this ordeal is now over, in reality, it changes little.

"Tomorrow morning, the same challenges await me that I faced the day before.

"Today’s settlement gives me back nothing of what I lost, nor of what my family lost, when this happened to me.

"But it is my sincere hope that the pursuit of justice in this case may prevent a similar outcome befalling someone else in the future.

"Unburdened by today’s settlement, I intend to make the best of my blessings and continue to embrace life with ambition, determination and hope."

Mr Justice Paul Coffey approved the settlement and said it was a "very prudent one".

The family's solicitor, David O'Malley, said that it was a very complex case and thanked the State Claims Agency for facilitating the mediation.

He said that he would encourage all such cases to engage in mediation and called on the government to expedite legislation which he said would speed up such cases by streamlining the mediation process.