A judge has ruled as inadequate a €26,000 settlement offer by a crèche to an 11-year-old girl whose ring finger was crushed and fractured by a staff member who accidentally closed a door on her left hand.
Judge Terence O'Sullivan heard in the Circuit Civil Court that Celeste O’Connell was aged three when the accident occurred at The Park Academy Crèche in Beacon South Quarter, Sandyford in Dublin, in October 2017.
Barrister Eamon Marray SC told the court that immediately following the incident Celeste, of Cedarmount Road, Mount Merrion, Dublin, had at first been brought to a doctor, then to a VHI Swiftcare Clinic and then to Crumlin Children’s Hospital on the same day because her crushed finger bled continuously through dressings.
Mr Marray, who appeared with Audrey Colleran of Corrigan and Corrigan Solicitors, told Judge O’Sullivan the injury had been very painful and distressing for Celeste who, although recovering well after surgery, had been left with a concerning cosmetic issue that would present as a continuous manicure problem for her.
Judge O’Sullivan was told that with her mother’s permission the crèche manager had at first taken Celeste to a doctor and when blood seeped through a dressing she was taken to the VHI Swiftcare Clinic which had discovered the nailbed of her finger had come off and had been seriously damaged.
The clinic, after changing the dressing, advised that she be taken to Crumlin Children’s Hospital where her parents were waiting for her.
She had been triaged and subsequently seen by plastic surgeon Kevin Moore who had noted unusual fast bleeding of Celeste’s wound, at which time she had been very distressed and in significant pain.
Celeste had been taken for x-ray examination which confirmed that the tip of her left ring finger bone had been broken and would require surgery on the following day to repair the nailbed.
After her finger had continued profusely bleeding at home throughout the night her parents had brought her directly to the hospital the following morning where she had to undergo emergency surgery. The application of new dressings had been exceptionally distressful for her.
Five days after surgery Celeste had developed a sepsis infection and treated with antibiotics and had been hospitalised for four days with her parents taking turns of sitting with her.
Celeste, through her mother, had claimed that while the surgery had been successful she had been seriously and adversely affected in the quality and enjoyment of her life.
Judge O’Sullivan said that the suggested compensation under guidelines regarding damages had not taken into consideration the fracture of Celeste’s ring finger nor the surgery under general anaesthetic.
He noted that liability was no longer an issue in the case and refused to approve the settlement offer, estimating adequate compensation to be in "the mid to late thirties" of thousands of euro.
He sent the case forward for trial before another judge of the Circuit Court.
