A teenage girl, who suffered devastating injuries when an inflatable ring she was riding in crashed into a moored boat, has had a settlement of her injury claim for a powerboat accident approved at the High Court.
Rebecca Coles (now 19) from Langdon Hills near Basildon in Essex sustained her injuries in an accident on the River Orwell in May 2008 when, as she was being towed on an inflatable rubber ring behind a powerboat, the driver of the boat swerved to avoid a yacht. The action of the powerboat driver swung the inflatable rubber ring around and smashed it into the side of another boat, causing Rebecca to sustain severe head injuries.
Rebecca was admitted to Addenbrooke´s Hospital in Cambridge, where she underwent several operations including one to have part of her skull removed and a titanium plate inserted. Doctors told Rebecca that because the part of the brain that controlled her movement was so badly damaged she would never walk again. Rebecca also suffered permanent damage to her peripheral vision and lost 40 percent hearing in her right ear because of her injuries.
Through her father – Steven Coles – Rebecca made an injury claim for a powerboat accident against the insurers of the boat´s driver and, at the High Court in London, Mr Justice Teare heard that an agreement had been reached between the Coles´ family and the insurance company to settle the powerboat accident injury compensation claim for £1.37 million.
Mr Justice Teare was also told that, since her accident, Rebecca has undergone intensive physiotherapy and specialist rehabilitation at the Children´s Trust in Tadworth which enabled her to walk a mile in the 2010 London Marathon. Rebecca also achieved sufficiently high GCSE grades to study events management at college. Approving the settlement of the injury claim for a powerboat accident the judge wished Rebecca well for the future – both with her studies and her life after her studies.