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UK paramedic trips in home, sues patient

By Cyril Dixon
The Express
Copyright 2008 The Express

EAST MIDLANDS, UK — An 82-year-old woman is being sued by a paramedic who twisted his ankle when he tripped on her driveway during a routine callout.

Medic Stephen Canning’s solicitors have written to greatgrandmother Joan Boardman demanding damages over his “severe ligament damage.”

Mr Canning was in an emergency response team sent out when Mrs Boardman suffered an angina attack at home.

As he ran in with a stretcher he lost his balance and fell awkwardly, turning his left ankle.

He decided to sue after being told he was not covered by liability insurance held by his employer, East Midlands Ambulance Service.

He blames the fact that the driveway was dark because a security light had automatically cut out before he reached the front door.

But last night Mrs Boardman and her husband James, 83, hit out at the “morally wrong” cash demand.

She said: “I thought the letter was a joke at first but both myself and my husband fail to see how we could be at fault for his accident.

“The security light may have switched itself off but the driveway was hardly shrouded in darkness.

“The porch light was still on, as were the street lights and the ambulance had been left open so there was the light from that. If anything, it should be me that feels aggrieved because I had to wait for another ambulance to come.” Mr Boardman said: “Letters started to arrive making all sorts of legal threats. We shouldn’t have to pay out for him falling over.

“It’s morally wrong and has left a very sour taste in the mouth. My wife has been very stressed about it and has been in hospital this week.” Mr Canning’s fall came in March last year when Mrs Boardman, of Louth, Lincs, was taken ill two years after suffering a heart attack.

As the paramedic lay injured, Mr Boardman had to summon another two ambulances — one for his wife and one for Mr Canning.

She was released after treatment at a heart unit in Grimsby, 15 miles away, while he went to Louth County Hospital.

A letter from his solicitors Wilkin Chapman arrived shortly after claiming damages for personal injury and loss of earnings.

Yesterday East Midlands Ambulance Service declined to comment other than saying that Mr Canning is pursuing the matter privately.

But Carol Brown, of Unison, which is backing Mr Canning’s claim, said: “If our members are injured during work then of course the union would support them.

“I can understand people finding it hard to believe but if someone is injured during work then somebody has got to take liability.”

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