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Birth Bug Woman Wins £3.9m Payout
14th January 2005
A 20-year-old woman has won £3.9m in compensation after being infected with a hospital bug in January 1985.
Claire McEvoy was born at the William Harvey Hospital, in Ashford, but became ill with Listeria after her cot was put next to another baby already infected.
The High Court heard staff failed to spot her condition and she was rushed back to the Kent hospital with water on the brain after being sent home.
The condition left her with learning difficulties and mobility problems.
The court heard that she was not diagnosed with hydrocephalus - water on the brain - until more than a year after her birth.
Although she was "a cheerful and happy" young woman, she was still "utterly dependent" on her parents, who she lives with in London, the court was told.
Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authority admitted liability for Miss McEvoy's injuries just before Christmas, and formally apologised to her and her family on 7 January - the day before her 20th birthday.
© BBC News – Story Filed 12th January 2005
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