Orphaned child gets compensation after horror pile-up
A child whose future is in tatters after a five-vehicle highway pile-up left him orphaned and brain-damaged has received R1.5-million in compensation from the Road Accident Fund, thanks to the legal minds at de Broglio Inc.
The child, Mohammad*, who is now 13, was a back-seat passenger in his father’s car on the N1 North in Gauteng when the horrendous accident occurred, on 18 June 2008.
A truck was either stationery or travelling extremely slowly on the highway at the time, causing four vehicles – including the car in which Mohammad and his father were travelling – to collide with it.
Mohammad’s father was sadly killed in the devastating accident, and Mohammad sustained a head injury, a depressed skull fracture, post-traumatic brain syndrome and an ankle fracture.
The child’s mother had, in a tragic twist of irony, also died in a car accident just the previous year. Orphaned and bereaved, Mohammad’s elder sister approached de Broglio Inc to lodge a third-party claim against the Road Accident Fund. A curator was later appointed to act on the child’s behalf.
The firm’s medico-legal experts concluded that Mohammad would probably have gone on to complete matric (Grade 12) had he not been injured in the crash, but that he would probably now only be able to attain a basic Grade 9 level of education.
Furthermore, they predicted that because of his brain injury, he will battle to obtain and keep any kind of employment as an adult. This heartbreaking matter was settled in the North Gauteng High Court for R1.575-million, plus the RAF is required to take care of Mohammed’s future medical expenses.
*Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality
