Mark Pollock sues friends for fall that paralysed him

Wesser · 23-07-2015 08:14PM

I think there's a very strong compensation culture out there, everyone looking to make a fast buck.
It's so widespread and I'm so sick of it. In my line if work you meet so many people who have ordinary Life events like tripping on a footpath and it's sue sue she. They've seen the solicitor even before they've seen the doctor and the only reason they're seeing the doctor is because their solicitor told them to get a souped up report done up. I hate dishonesty.
I don't believe that his friends have any responsibilities to him. A paid accomplice side or healthcare assistant who has a contract, well yes. But if I have a friend who has..... Poor hearing or vision, or a sore foot, am I responsible for guiding th across a busy road???!!! No! I'm their friend, of course I would help but I wouldn't expect to get sued if I don't.

darkpagandeath · 23-07-2015 08:17PM

On what grounds can he sue ? I don't see any grounds as we would all have to have house's secure for blind people to get insurance as they would stipulate it. I don't see it being a repair issue, Just an open window.

Chimichangas · 23-07-2015 08:45PM

Wesser wrote: »

I think there's a very strong compensation culture out there, everyone looking to make a fast buck.
It's so widespread and I'm so sick of it. In my line if work you meet so many people who have ordinary Life events like tripping on a footpath and it's sue sue she. They've seen the solicitor even before they've seen the doctor and the only reason they're seeing the doctor is because their solicitor told them to get a souped up report done up. I hate dishonesty.
I don't believe that his friends have any responsibilities to him. A paid accomplice side or healthcare assistant who has a contract, well yes. But if I have a friend who has..... Poor hearing or vision, or a sore foot, am I responsible for guiding th across a busy road???!!! No! I'm their friend, of course I would help but I wouldn't expect to get sued if I don't.

Did you mean Sue Sushi..?

And do you know many blind people with paid accomplices (??) or contracted health assistants?

Or are you just making this up, i.e. being dishonest with the truth?
..I hate dishonesty.

Wildlife Actor · 23-07-2015 09:16PM

1. It's an insurance claim, plain and simple
2. It's a publicity campaign by the insurance company, plain and simple (journos are too lazy to even change the headline from the press release - the old "sues his friends" line.

JustAThought · 23-07-2015 09:23PM

Love nor Money wrote: »

1. It's an insurance claim, plain and simple
2. It's a publicity campaign by the insurance company, plain and simple (journos are too lazy to even change the headline from the press release - the old "sues his friends" line.

Its still accurate & no matter how sympathetic to him & his terrible plight you are you have to bear in mind this will have an impact on their ability to get insurance & the cost of it for the reat of their days - lets hope he puts a pit aside for them when he gets his claim. If this is win I can see major issues for him in the future with being invited to places & events let alone friends houses . Nobody wins here - just him, a bit

Xaracatz · 23-07-2015 09:29PM

Cold War Kid wrote: »

You have a duty of care to a blind person in fairness. Not that I don't feel for his friends - what a thing to have to live with, and it was obviously just a terrible mistake. But the duty of care thing is probably part of the grounds on which he has cause to claim.

You do not have a duty of care to a person because they are blind.

Wildlife Actor · 23-07-2015 09:32PM

JustAThought wrote: »

Its still accurate & no matter how sympathetic to him & his terrible plight you are you have to bear in mind this will have an impact on their ability to get insurance & the cost of it for the reat of their days - lets hope he puts a pit aside for them when he gets his claim. If this is win I can see major issues for him in the future with being invited to places & events let alone friends houses . Nobody wins here - just him, a bit

The loading on a house insurance policy following a claim is a pittance.

This is not a "sore neck" case: it's a cost of care case. There's nothing morally wrong with a claim for monetary damage that is insured against. If your house is flooded, you make a claim. t's what insurance is for. This is not like two lads in supermacs readying up a fall.

darkpagandeath · 23-07-2015 09:33PM

Love nor Money wrote: »

The loading on a house insurance policy following a claim is a pittance.

This is not a "sore neck" case: it's a cost of care case. There's nothing morally wrong with a claim for monetary damage that is insured against. If your house is flooded, you make a claim. t's what insurance is for. This is not like two lads in supermacs readying up a fall.

How do you claim for an open window ?

CaraMay · 23-07-2015 09:36PM

So he refused a ground floor room and crawled out the open window? What?

Why did he not have his walking stick with him considering he wasn't sure of the house layout.

Icepick · 23-07-2015 09:36PM

personal responsibility where are thou?

darkpagandeath · 23-07-2015 09:39PM

Icepick wrote: »

personal responsibility where are thou?

It's been chucked out the window.... Gets coat.

Wildlife Actor · 23-07-2015 09:43PM

Icepick wrote: »

personal responsibility where are thou?

Well, you would be personally responsible for accidentally backing your car over a cliff, but if you have comprehensive insurance you'll still get the cost of a new one (asuming you survive that one....)

liam7831 · 23-07-2015 09:52PM

Love nor Money wrote: »

Well, you would be personally responsible for accidentally backing your car over a cliff, but if you have comprehensive insurance you'll still get the cost of a new one (asuming you survive that one....)

Would have to be a low cliff and a Hummer

Cold War Kid · 23-07-2015 09:56PM

Icepick wrote: »

personal responsibility where are thou?

But can a person who doesn't have all their faculties intact realistically be expected to be able to take responsibility for themselves at all times?

sheesh · 23-07-2015 10:00PM

Candie wrote: »

He's not suing the friends personally, peoples house insurance comes into play in these circumstances. I know a man who's child was brain damaged after falling out an upstairs window, and his insurance was sued through him, as he'd been told of the faulty latch and hadn't repaired it. The insurance paid out as he should have been aware of the danger, and the childs care was provided for with the money. Not the same situation, but if a large window is left open, and a blind person unaware of it falls and gets paralysed, it's not unreasonable to try claim on the insurance. It's what it's for, after all.

This
Everyone is assuming that the friends are not on board with this.
He is paralysed and blind he will need help for the rest of his life and this will be expensive. insurance will cover his medical bills and care for life and make him as comfortable as they can seems like a no brainer.

overshoot · 24-07-2015 10:04AM

Cold War Kid wrote: »

But can a person who doesn't have all their faculties intact realistically be expected to be able to take responsibility for themselves at all times?

If you take that option then the person should never be allowed live on their own.

But he said the most likely explanation was that he “was on his way to the bathroom and was disorientated and tripped out the window”.
Mr Wilson-Smith claimed the Cahills had disregarded a “reasonably foreseeable risk” of their blind friend being seriously injured.

is it reasonable to constantly expect someone to trip? he could have just as easily fallen down the stairs. What are we meant to do, keep blind people on the ground floor?!

Field east · 24-07-2015 10:20AM

I am always amassed as to how a blind person negotiates their way along a street. They access each step almost before taking the next one. They can ' detect' boxes left out for rubbish collection, etc. I assume Mr. Pollock was competent with the aid of a stick or/and dog to negotiate all of his surroundings. In a house , I assume that this would include doors, steps, switches , windows, location of bed, general space, etc. so as to establish his surrounds. it beggars belief that he had not checked out all of these areas when he entered the room with the u se of his stick especially if the area was unfamiliar. For a man who has 'travelled the world' and with a 'nothing is unachievable ' attitude and lived to tell the tale ,how come that he was not competent enough to establish the layout of such a small space.? The mind boggles. Having said the above the man was very badly injured and a significantly increased expenditure is required for thr future to manage his personal circumstances. I wonder did he have a travel / other type of personal insurance given his condition anyway?

seamus · 24-07-2015 10:28AM

overshoot wrote: »

is it reasonable to constantly expect someone to trip? he could have just as easily fallen down the stairs. What are we meant to do, keep blind people on the ground floor?!

The argument is not that he shouldn't have been put in a room with a window. The argument is that he should have been made aware that the window had been left open.

Personally I think it's a dodgy argument since he's not deaf and it's very easy to hear when a window is open.

The_Captain · 24-07-2015 10:35AM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Ah yeah I know..

I was at a screening of his docu 'Unbreakable' at the Lighthouse Cinema earlier in the year, in which he was in attendance. He gave a Q&A and afterwards as I was making my way out I realized I had forgotten my umbrella. Went back inside and he was chatting to one or two of his friends and said I had just forgotten something. Mark said: "Oh your umbrella is it?" and then got up, walked over to where I was sitting and got it for me and so I won't have a bad word said about him. He's a legend of a man, as noble and honest as they come.

Hold on, how blind is this lad?

dont bother · 24-07-2015 10:50AM

black and amber wrote: »

You got legend, noble and honest as they come from him simply handing you an umbrella? Wow.

ehm... surely to god if the man is able to see an umbrella from across the room, then he would have been able to see an open window? or at least he would have heard the breeze/felt the cold air coming in, and known it was a window ?!

it's all his own fault/unfortunate accident and he seems to be a greedy guy looking for money (whether from insurance co. or friends) it all seems a bit greedy...

is he playing up to the blindness a bit? if he could see an umbrella, then he could see a window....

terrydel · 24-07-2015 11:10AM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

lol.

Yeah, the blind, paralyzed, greedy, charitable, bastard.

Does being blind, paralyzed and charitable make him immune to the evil of greed?

Maximus Alexander · 24-07-2015 12:09PM

Cold War Kid wrote: »

But can a person who doesn't have all their faculties intact realistically be expected to be able to take responsibility for themselves at all times?

Blind people are completely capable of taking care of themselves and should be encouraged and taught to do so from an early age. It would actually be pretty insulting to plenty of blind people to suggest otherwise.

The fact that blind children are often wrapped in cotton wool and way over protected actually harms them long term, because it robs them of their autonomy and stunts their exploration of the world and their ability to learn how to cope.

There's a fantastic episode of This American Life which may open your eyes (*badum tish*) on this one. It's a good listen, would recommend.

24-07-2015 12:17PM

Regardless of anything else, being blind and paralyzed must be one of the most horrible experiences imaginable ...

NachoBusiness · 24-07-2015 12:43PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Regardless of anything else, being blind and paralyzed must be one of the most horrible experiences imaginable ...

The lyrics..

'Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror, I cannot live. I cannot die, trapped in myself, body my holding cell.'

..come to mind.

jimmymcelroy · 24-07-2015 11:38PM

BattleCorp wrote: »

Was he drunk?

Yeah he was drunk, that has been passed over during any discussions or on the documentary regarding his accident.

Icepick · 25-07-2015 08:12AM

sheesh wrote: »

This
Everyone is assuming that the friends are not on board with this.
He is paralysed and blind he will need help for the rest of his life and this will be expensive. insurance will cover his medical bills and care for life and make him as comfortable as they can seems like a no brainer.

insurance fraud by both parties involved then?

galljga1 · 25-07-2015 08:29AM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Ah yeah I know..

I was at a screening of his docu 'Unbreakable' at the Lighthouse Cinema earlier in the year, in which he was in attendance. He gave a Q&A and afterwards as I was making my way out I realized I had forgotten my umbrella. Went back inside and he was chatting to one or two of his friends and said I had just forgotten something. Mark said: "Oh your umbrella is it?" and then got up, walked over to where I was sitting and got it for me and so I won't have a bad word said about him. He's a legend of a man, as noble and honest as they come.

Ah Nacho, that's bad.

I have doubts about the whole south pole thing.
I reckon they put him in an industrial freezer for a few weeks and just told him he was in Antarctica. Ahhh, look at the penguins....

blinding · 25-07-2015 08:33AM

I can't see the Insurance company losing this one especially in the UK.

Insurance companies are business's and………………………………..

CruelCoin · 25-07-2015 09:19AM

MagicMarker wrote: »

The issue is not that he opted for a 2nd floor room, the issue is they left the ****ing window open.

The least that should have been done was ''hey, mind you don't fall out of the wide open window, it's over here... "

An what are people meant to do? Plan every step of a guests' visit and warn them of every possible danger?

"Mind the step"
"Mind the dog"
"Mind the knives of the magnetic strip"

It's ridiculous.

He's a grown man, not a child. Its perfectly reasonable to expect people to look after themselves. They were his hosts, not his carers.

Cold War Kid · 25-07-2015 09:24AM

CruelCoin wrote: »

An what are people meant to do? Plan every step of a guests' visit and warn them of every possible danger?

"Mind the step"
"Mind the dog"
"Mind the knives of the magnetic strip"

It's ridiculous.

He's a grown man, not a child. Its perfectly reasonable to expect people to look after themselves. They were his hosts, not his carers.

He's blind though.
I don't know the full story and I do think it's strange that he didn't sense the window was open, but people on this thread seem to think blindness isn't that much of a handicap.

Mark Pollock sues friends for fall that paralysed him

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