The High Court has heard that an elderly man was the victim of an unprovoked attack while waiting for hours with his sick wife in a hospital emergency department.
The couple, whose lives were "changed irretrievably" by the attack, settled their case for €450,000.
The court was told they had been in the emergency department for ten hours when the man was attacked by a patient who allegedly wandered unsupervised around the unit having earlier been treated in isolation.
Senior Counsel David Kennedy said that it was an unfortunate and distressing case as the attack was witnessed by the man's wife from her hospital trolley.
Joseph and Patricia Hansard had attended the emergency department of Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin on 12 March 2022 after Mrs Hansard fell at home.
They arrived at the hospital shortly after 9am and Mrs Hansard was still on a trolley at 7pm when her husband was struck on the head with a piece of metal and violently knocked to the ground by a man who was allegedly wandering around having left an isolation area.
He suffered a loss of consciousness and lacerations to his head. Following the attack his condition declined and he was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Both he and his wife are now living in a nursing home, the court heard.
The incident, which was captured on CCTV, was stopped when nursing staff intervened.
Mr Hansard, 82, and his 87-year-old wife sued Tallaght hospital over the assault.
It was claimed the hospital failed to ensure his safety and prevent him from being attacked while in the emergency department.
The claims were denied and the case was settled without admission of liability for €450,000.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was "a very sad and distressing case" for the couple and their family and it "had upended their lives".
The Hansard family said the incident was entirely preventable and called on all hospitals to review and improve security. They said their parents were "failed" by Tallaght hospital.
The family said that Joseph and Patricia are "a golden couple" who have been married for 58 years and after the attack "their world was shattered".
Mr Hansard suffered severe cognitive decline and memory loss, they said, while Ms Hansard’s Parkinson’s disease had progressed and she was diagnosed with dementia.
The family said their parents were no longer able to live independently and required nursing home care after they had tried to care for them at home.
