Claims Ireland

€2m payout for boy who suffered injury at birth

10-Oct-2014

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A FOUR-year-old boy who suffered brain injuries at birth is to receive an interim payment of €2m under a High Court settlement.

The hospital where Dylan Kenny was born has also apologised to the parents of the child.

Waterford Regional Hospital said it sincerely regretted the injuries caused to Dylan and "the undoubted trauma which has been suffered by his parents".

The court heard the apology was issued when the HSE admitted liability in the case last June.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told of the apology yesterday as Dylan settled his damages action with an initial interim payout of €2m over the next three years.

Dylan, of Beech Drive, Greenfield, Old Tramore Road, Waterford, has cerebral palsy and cannot walk independently, the court heard.

His counsel, Bruce Antoniotti, says he is a happy boy who laughs a lot and his parents can understand the few words he says.

Waterford Regional apologised "for the devastating injuries which the hospital accepts should not have happened".

Dylan, through his mother Claire O'Brien, had sued the HSE over the management of her labour and the circumstances of his birth in January 2010.

It was claimed there was a failure to monitor the foetal heart properly or at all during labour and a failure to appreciate the worrisome cardiac traces throughout the labour, as well as a failure to discern or react to the signs of foetal distress and hypoxia.

It was also claimed there was a failure to deliver Dylan as quickly as possible once there were clear signs of foetal distress.

It was further alleged there was a failure to give a candid explanation for what happened and why.

Mr Antoniotti said Dylan's parents were anxious for an order for periodic payments, as they did not want a situation to arise where he could run out of money in his lifetime. He said Dylan's parents were happy with the settlement.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Cross said the matter had been handled very well on behalf of Dylan.

The case will come before the court again in October 2017, when Dylan's future care needs will be assessed.