With this case as example, does it means we can sue Nparks or LTA if a tree branch falls on our cars?
Cathedral insurers to pay out amount agreed upon in High Court
A WOMAN who became paralysed after she was hit by falling branches from a tree growing on the St Andrew’s Cathedral grounds has been awarded $500,000.
But the money is cold comfort to her.
“It doesn’t matter even if you give me millions of dollars. I just want to be normal and stand up again,” China-born Madam Wang Shu Xiang said yesterday.
The amount was agreed upon at the High Court on Wednesday. This is the first reported court hearing involving injury from a falling tree branch.
Madam Wang, 45, a “study mama” from Hubei, had sought $1 million through lawyers from Hoh Law Corporation. The payout was halved after objections by lawyers from KhattarWong for the insurers.
Madam Wang was walking with a friend along North Bridge Road on Aug 25, 2008 when branches from a tree growing in the compound of the landmark church fell on them. There was no rain at the time, although it had rained earlier.
She was struck on the head and body and the injuries left her paralysed from the chest down. She spent 50 days at the Singapore General Hospital where she underwent several operations, including spinal treatments and bone grafting.
She continued treatment at a Beijing hospital before returning here in April last year to be with her 12-year-old son, who is studying here.
The cathedral had initially claimed the mishap was an act of God and beyond its control. It also blamed the landscape contractor for failing to do a proper job.
But in September last year, it accepted liability – thus sparing her the trauma of going though a trial – and narrowed the court issue to the quantum of the payout.
Madam Wang’s lawyer, Mr N. Srinivasan, sought a total of $1.064 million for various items such as future medical expenses, but lawyer K. Anparasan for the insurers whittled the sum to $500,000.
For example, instead of $250,000 to compensate for loss of earnings, she got $30,000 after the insurers pointed out that her purpose in coming here was to look after her son, not to work.
Her estimates of some $360,000 to meet medical needs and maid expenses for the next 25 years were scaled down to about $124,000 for the next 10 years.
Mr Anparasan said a “reasonable and just settlement was reached with the claimant overall”.
But all the money in the world will not bring back her ability to walk.
Madam Wang used to love shopping but hardly leaves her flat in Serangoon North now.
“I used to be so healthy. I don’t go out any more because it’s inconvenient. I always need to get someone to go with me, and I also have to wear diapers,” she said, touching her legs.
She is resigned to never being able to stand again as doctors have said her chances of recovery are slim.
She spends her days watching television and surfing the Internet. Three times a day, she hoists herself onto a set of parallel bars to stretch her muscles and get some exercise. A housekeeper comes regularly to help her with the housework.
She laments not being able to accompany her son to his school in Yishun. Her family from China comes to Singapore once every few months to see her. She did not want to say much about her husband.
The cathedral authorities said yesterday that they share the pain and anguish of Madam Wang and her family, and are pleased the unfortunate case has been fairly resolved: “We can only pray that Madam Wang will eventually recover to live a normal life.”
They have since taken additional steps to inspect the trees in the cathedral grounds and trim them regularly.
