In 2012 Paul Spence was attacked without provocation in a local bar. It was a night like any other, he was around town socialising with friends.
He fell victim to a violent altercation that was happening inside the bar. Paul suffered frontal lobe brain haemorrhage which changed his life immensely in an instant. This is his story.
What Were the Injuries
Paul was the victim of a ‘one punch’ attack which left him with a frontal lobe brain haemorrhage . His executive functions such as mental processing, attention, concentration, memory, personality and speech were now impaired.
He faced many psychological challenges and the journey to recovery seemed very long and difficult, for what happened in an instant, he was now being predicted a 2-3 year recovery and the doctors couldn’t guarantee he would be the same person that walked into that bar that night.
Why Paul Needed Help
“One punch. Wrong time, wrong place. It blew my life to pieces on every level you can imagine”, said Paul.
The injury had devastating consequences on Paul’s life – after being discharged from Hull Royal Hospital, 8 weeks later, life as he knew it was over. His family wanted to support him as much as possible, but they had never experienced or dealt with anything like this before.
Paul couldn’t leave the house alone; his driving license was taken away and he couldn’t go back to work as a Forman – the career he had worked really hard for and all that he had know for the last 16 years before the attack. It had left him feeling extremely vulnerable and lost.
“I had lost my independence, I didn’t know what was going to happen with my life.”, he said.
Further neurological tests have shown that Paul wouldn’t be able to return to his former job. He lost peer circles and his relationship with his partner broke down.
It seemed like the injury has caused devastation in all aspects of his life.
When did you find out that you could claim compensation from the Criminal Injuries Scheme?
“The nurses at Hull Royal Infirmary informed me and my family that I could make a claim through the government CICA scheme to help me with my recovery.”
What was considered in the claim?
There were lots of circumstances considered in his claim, including his personal circumstances, care costs, loss of earnings, projected loss of future earnings, transport costs, trauma and counselling costs from professionals who helped him rebuild his life.
The claim took about 2-3 years and Paul received interim payments to help him with vital costs such as mortgage payments.
“Getting professional support has helped me massively, because it took the worries and the stress away from me and my family, which meant I could focus all my attention on getting better”, said Paul.
Paul received lots of support and guidance during the process which he said had helped him immensely at the time, he wasn’t able to think about legal paperwork, or collecting neuropsychiatric reports and hospital reports and court documents – he needed to focus on getting back on his feet.
“I would encourage anyone who has experienced assault to get help through the CICA scheme, I fear for where I would have ended up without the support – it helped me rebuild my life.
Criminal Compensation Authority is a public body that deals with compensation claims from people who have been physically or mentally injured because they were a victim of a violent crime, you can find more information about it here.
We have helped thousands of innocent victims of abuse and assault secure compensation for criminal injuries whilst providing support they need to get their life back on track. As the leading criminal injury law firm, we work closely with the CICA to secure you the compensation and justice you deserve.
