A plumber has been awarded more than half a million pounds after a painful injury was missed by doctors.
Darren Conquer, 47, from Tranent, East Lothian, was playing in a bounce game of football with friends in July 2003 when he sustained an injury.
He had ended up in goal after the keeper was injured with only a few minutes of the match remaining. After twisting awkwardly, he immediately knew he had done some damage to his right elbow.
At Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s accident and emergency department he was initially told it appeared he may have ruptured his biceps tendon. But that diagnosis was dismissed and he was told he could go home – even though he couldn’t straighten his arm.
Darren said he was in the car park when a junior doctor chased after him and asked him to return to hospital.
The next day he had exploratory surgery for something called compartment syndrome – a painful condition which occurs when pressure within the muscles builds to dangerous levels.
No evidence was found but the hospital failed to carry out a ultrasound scan, which would have discovered a distal biceps tendon rupture.
It took six years of begging for help with the pain and being dismissed before a surgeon finally discovered the blunder and carried out a repair. But by that time the damage couldn’t be fully fixed and he still suffers a lot of pain.
Darren takes nine Gabapentin capsules every day to deal with nerve pain as well as fast-acting and slow-acting OxyContin – a painkiller for moderate to severe pain.
His medication causes nausea, so he also has to take anti-sickness tablets.
Incredibly, three years after his first injury he had an identical one in the other arm. But it was repaired promptly and he made a full recovery.
Before his 2003 injury, Darren ran an award-winning plumbing business and was lauded as a successful young entrepreneur.
But his business folded after his injury and his marriage broke down as a result of the stresses caused by it.
Darren can no longer physically or financially support his two children, one of whom was a talented go-kart competitor but was forced to give it up because his father was no longer able to afford his hobby.
In a written judgment yesterday, Lady Carmichael stated Lothian Health Board accepted that had the surgical repair been undertaken shortly after the injury, it would “probably have been successful in restoring most, if not full, function, and that the pursuer would have been pain-free”.
The Court of Session judge ruled: “That was in any event my own conclusion on the evidence.”
Lady Carmichael made an award of £542,397 which included loss of earnings, future financial loss and for his pain and suffering. Darren has already received £180,000 as an interim payment.
Darren said last night: “This is only the tip of the iceberg. The full story is still to come out.”
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