Woman loses £650K spinal injury claim after being pictured winning Christmas tree throwing contest
A woman who tried to claim €760,383 (£649,967) for injuries she suffered in a car crash lost her case after she was pictured winning a Christmas tree throwing contest.
Kamila Grabska, 36, said she was left with a ‘‘disabling’’ condition following the accident where the vehicle she was in was hit from behind in February 2017.
She had sued RSA Insurance on the basis that she could not work for over five years, play with her kids or carry out basic chores due to her constant back and neck pain.
But the Irish High Court, sitting in Limerick, was shown a damning photo in a national newspaper of her hurling the spruce on Jan 8 2018, during her hearing.
Grabska argued that while she looked happy in the pictures from the charity event, she was still suffering from her injuries and endured pain to this day.
But Judge Carmel Stewart threw out the case and remarked that the “very graphic picture” of her tossing the winter fir had helped her make the decision.
The Irish Independent reported the judge saying: “It is a very large, natural Christmas tree and it is being thrown by her in a very agile movement.
“I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated. On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim.”
The married mother of two, from Ennis, County Clare, told doctors her injuries were so severe after the accident, on February 3 2017, that she could not lift a heavy bag without feeling shooting pain.
Took disability payments
She quit her job following the crash and took disability payments – writing in court documents her past and future loss of earnings amounted to £427,340.
Grabska even said there were times when her husband had to bring medication to her in bed, which she could not leave for half of the day due to her agony.
But the court heard that just a few days before she had informed doctors of her terrible condition, she had finished top in the charity Christmas tree chucking event.
During the hearing, some footage was also submitted in evidence from November last year that showed Grabska training her large dog for over an hour in a park.
Grabska denied the suggestion that she had faked her injuries, telling the court that she was simply “trying to live a normal life”, the Irish Independent reported.
But her case was dismissed after the judge ruled her activities following the crash were “completely at odds” with the medical evidence she gave of her injuries.
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