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Injured Police Sergeant Receives GBP 370,000 in Compensation
11 March 2011
A former police sergeant from Harrogate has been awarded £370,000 in compensation after he suffered an motorbike accident whilst on duty that left him with severe injuries and forced him into early retirement.
Steve Ball, 43 - now retired from the North Yorkshire Police - was on motorcycle duty returning from a call-out in July 2006, when a motorcyclist on the opposite side of the road lost control of his motorbike. The motorist veered into the wrong lane, causing a head-on collision on the Otley Road close to the junction of Pennypot Lane.
Sergeant Ball was thrown from his bike and suffered serious injuries including damage to his shoulder, neck and the nerves running through his arm, resulting in a total loss of use of his right side.
After being air-lifted by helicopter to Harrogate District, he underwent surgery on his ankle, and was referred to a consultant at St. James’s Hospital, Leeds for treatment. Mr Ball then underwent further surgery in October 2006 where nerves spanning from his ankles to his knees were taken out of both of his legs and transplanted into his shoulder in order to try and regain some movement.
In total, Mr Ball was in hospital for 11 days and endured four rounds of surgery and took many months to recuperate. He still suffers from severe pain and has limited movement in his shoulder and fingers together with no movement in his right wrist.
Mr Ball said: “All I can remember from the accident is suddenly seeing a motorcyclist coming straight towards me, and then waking up in a ditch by the side of the road with no feeling down my right side.
“It was a terrifying experience and goes to show that, no matter what sort of training you’ve had as a police officer and no matter how many years you have been on the police force, the one thing you can never account for is what another driver might do.”
Paul Jackson, partner at Russell Jones & Walker solicitors who represented Mr Ball said: “A dedicated member of the police force was seriously injured whilst on duty, due entirely to an error of judgement by a member of the public. Not only has Mr Ball suffered agonising injuries and endured months of suffering but the North Yorkshire Police Force has also suffered a great loss through Sergeant Ball’s departure from its ranks.
“I only hope that cases such as this serve to highlight the need for caution and awareness of other drivers on the road.”
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