Dog bite claims: ‘ I just went for a walk in the park, but it all went so wrong’
It was a lovely day, and Sue had a spare half hour before she went to work, so she thought she’d take Muffin for a walk.
As usual, Muffin got very excited as soon as she saw the lead, and ran off straightaway to get her ball. Very soon , they were in the park. It was just the right sort of day for Muffin – not too hot – and Muffin started running like a mad thing as soon as Sue threw the ball. Sue was glad they’d spent so much time training Muffin when she was a puppy – she was so well behaved.
Sue recognised the other dogs walking with their owners, as she saw them each day when she walked Muffin. All except that dog running towards her now – she didn’t recognise that dog, or the red faced owner running behind it trying to keep control…
The next thing Sue was flat on her back, and the dog was on top of her leg, biting hard. Muffin was there now barking at the dog – which suddenly ran off in the direction of its owner who was shouting at it.
One of the other owners ran over. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked.’ Your leg looks terrible – I’ll take you to the hospital. I’m going to call the police as well -you aren’t the first person to be bitten by that dog. It’s really aggressive…’
At the hospital, the painkillers made Sue feel much better – at least she could concentrate on what the Doctor was saying now.
‘It’s a nasty bite I’m afraid’, said the Doctor.’ We have to watch for infection where there has been a dog bite. We’ll keep you in for a few days, just to monitor things I think, and then we’ll arrange some out patient appointments to keep an eye on the healing process, and you’ll need to go to your local surgery for new dressings every couple of days ’.
Sue was suddenly very worried. She hadn’t made it to work, and she wouldn’t be there for that meeting tomorrow – she’d have to call her boss to explain. Sue knew her boss wouldn’t be happy about it – and she knew that she wouldn’t be paid fully for her time off. This month of all months, when they already had some big bills to pay.Who would pick up the kids today? Her Mum was on holiday, and her husband was working away. She’d call her friend and see if she could help– she would need to call her anyway to tell her that she couldn’t go for her usual run tonight. Sue’s leg started aching again – and nobody had mentioned what happened to Muffin…
Unfortunately, Sue’s experience isn’t unusual – the consequences for Sue are far reaching, painful and inconvenient.
So, just what can Sue claim for?
- Her injury itself and all the pain she suffers
- The cost of any treatment she needs
- The cost of painkillers or prescription charges
- Her loss of earnings
- Cost of retraining if she loses her job
- Travel expenses to hospital and doctors appointments
- Care claim to compensate those who help Sue with everyday tasks like cooking, cleaning, or gardening, or personal care like dressing and washing
- And much much more…
Sue’s story is certainly familiar to us here at Russell Worth – we spend every day helping people get back to normal after an accident, and claiming what they are entitled to. So if you think we can help, just give us a call on our New Client Hotline 0800 028 2060
