Woman traumatised by husband’s road crash settles action

A woman who was traumatised after going to the scene of a road crash in which her severely injured husband was trapped in his car has settled her High Court action.

Emma Nolan heard the screams of her husband, Alan, as emergency personnel tried to free him and she later travelled in a helicopter with him as he was airlifted to hospital.

In her action, she claimed she was a secondary victim in the accident two years ago.

Her counsel Bruce Antoniotti SC told the court Mr Nolan was driving neat Ballythomas, Co Wexford, when there was a head-on collision with a Land Rover.

The driver of the Land Rover was checking the volume on her radio when her vehicle collided with Mr Nolan’s car, he said.

Ms Nolan, a mother of four, of Loggan Upper, Wingfield, Gorey, Co Wexford, sued the other driver, Pearl Stephenson, Ballythomas Hill, Gorey, Co Wexford as a result of the accident on July 9th, 2015.

It was claimed Mrs Nolan was a secondary victim as a result of witnessing her husband’s pain and screams and she suffered nervous shock.

She claimed she witnessed her husband suffering life-threatening injuries in the crash which saw Ms Stephenson’s car embedded in Mr Nolan’s car.

Trapped

The case was before the court for assessment of damages only.

In evidence, Mrs Nolan said, when she got a phone call there had been an accident, she drove to the scene near her home.

When she got to her husband’s car, she saw he was trapped with the dashboard pushed on to his legs.

“I was trying to calm Alan down. He was in pain. It was my first time to witness an accident. Smoke started to come out of the car and everybody was getting worried,” she said.

When the emergency services arrived and tried to free Alan, he was screaming, she said. “His screams stayed with me.”

She travelled in the helicopter with her husband when he was airlifted from the scene and was by his side in intensive care and in hospital for 13 days afterwards. They were “just normal people” but the crash had changed their lives and she thinks of it every day, the court heard.

Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon said, from observing Mrs Nolan in the witness box, it was clear she was a very traumatised lady.

“She has suffered,” the judge said.

When the case resumed in the afternoon, the judge was told it had settled and could be struck out. The judge made those orders and wished the family the best for the future.