Mother wins £5.2m payout for disabled son

Jul 27 2007 By Gary Marks, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM mother who has spent 12 years fighting for help to care for her severely disabled son has been awarded £5.2m in damages.

Tracey McAlinden, from Erdington, won her protracted case against Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust after a series of medical blunders caused her son Callum Robertson to be born with cerebral palsy in 1994.

The payout will be staggered throughout Callum's life to pay for round-the-clock care for the youngster, who is confined to a wheelchair and currently relies on his parents to dress, wash and bathe him.

He also needs constant supervision as he has little sense of danger.

Ms McAlinden said: "He screamed constantly as a baby, but I couldn't get any help.

"Birmingham City Council said he wasn't disabled enough. The only help I got was a nurse who put a tube down his throat to feed him.

"I asked everybody for help and to this day I don't know why I didn't qualify even for a rubber mat to prevent him slipping in the bath."

Ms McAlinden, whose six other children are all healthy, scoured public libraries for information about brain-damaged children, convinced that Callum's injuries were caused by medical errors during her pregnancy.

"We've proved that mistakes in paediatrics were made and that Callum does deserve care," she added.

"I was told once to sedate him every four hours. But he's a bright little kid who loves to be outside or to use a computer.

"Maybe our story can give hope to anyone in a similar situation."

The trust admitted liability last year, and the damages were settled at the High Court in Bristol.