Girl, 11 awarded £10.8m in compensation for birth injury

Milly Evans

A Lincolnshire girl who suffered serious injuries at birth and needs 24-hour care has been awarded compensation worth £10.8m. A judge at London's High Court approved the award to Milly Evans, 11, the daughter of a former Red Arrows pilot. Milly was born at Lincoln County Hospital on 1 March 2001, but later suffered a seizure. United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust admitted liability, but had previously contested the amount of damages. Her parents, Andy Evans, 45, and his wife Kate, 41, of Cranwell, claimed that if the baby's heart had been properly monitored, the midwife would have spotted her foetal distress sooner and would have been delivered earlier without suffering catastrophic injury. Milly suffers from cerebral palsy and requires 24-hour care and help with all aspects of daily living. She is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, although her intellect has remained intact and she communicates through sophisticated eye-gaze equipment. Susan Rodway, QC, representing the family, told the judge, Sir Robert Nelson: "It is yet another incident of an avoidable accident at birth which caused devastating injuries." The judge approved a settlement involving a lump sum of £5.866m and lifelong periodic payments rising to £204,000 a year. Sir Robert told Mr Evans, a former squadron leader in the RAF and member of the Red Arrows display team, who was unable to continue his career because of Milly's disabilities, that he and his wife, Kate, had both done a "fantastic" job. Paul Rees QC, for the trust, offered them an unreserved apology for the events surrounding Milly's birth. A statement from the United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust said that guidelines and practices had changed significantly in the 11 years since Milly's birth. The family' said Milly would now be able to have a specially-adapted home, with hoists and a hydrotherapy pool, which would be big enough for her to access all rooms. culled from BBC