Ministry of Defence Pays Out Compensation To Budding New Soldier

During a tour of duty in Afghanistan, a hopeful new Territorial Army recruit had a life-changing head injury when she came off her bike during a training exercise.

At the time of the accident which happened on an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, the 41-year-old was not wearing a helmet. Following some time in hospital and 6 months of rehabilitation, she now suffers long-term injuries including speech delay, memory loss and concentration problems which she lives with daily, requiring a lot of care.

Her career in the army will not be able to continue and her days of cycling and leading a full life have come to an abrupt end. Her family has successfully claimed compensation from the Ministry of Defence for a substantial amount.

The woman’s mother says her daughter always wore a helmet at home but was failed to be supplied with one on the day of the accident. She adds that her daughter’s life is now completely different highlighting her memory problems in particular.

The lady’s mother continued: “She sometimes struggles to remember the words for things, and for someone who always had a lot of words it is very difficult.”

Alongside the compensation case, the family are also campaigning for enforcement of helmets for cyclists in an attempt to prevent the large number of head and brain injuries experienced every year.

Published 11th February 2015.