Pensioner sues NHS after breaking neck throughout ‘extreme nightmare’
John Nicholson was left partly paralysed from the neck down when he dived out out of bed during his violent dream where his muscles remain active and responsive rather than dormant
The man is suing the NHS (stock)
A pensioner left paralysed after he fell out of bed after a vivid nightmare is suing the NHS for more than £1 million. John Nicholson was left partly paralysed from the neck down when he dived out out of bed during his violent dream.
The 75-year-old suffers from a sleep disorder which causes him to ‘act out’ his often violent dreams – as his muscles remain active and responsive rather than dormant when in repose but his condition took a turn for the worse when he ended up badly hurt after a night’s sleep.
He incurred the life-changing injuries four years ago when a bad dream resulted in him diving head first out of bed in the night and badly hurt. His partner, Beryl Cole, heard him hit the floor and rushed to his aid, calling an ambulance which took almost three hours to reach his home near Yelverton in Devon.
John Nicholson was left partly paralysed (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
Initially he was seated by paramedics, and only laid flat when his condition deteriorated and damage was done during this time, they claim. Mr Nicholson and his partner both say the paramedics seemed ‘uncaring’ and his medical notes show he was described as ‘dead weight’ and ‘not making any effort to move himself’.
The pair say the medics failed to understand the extent of his injury until surgeons started to operate many hours later when the damage was seen.
He finally reached Derriford Hospital in Plymouth just before 10am but was then kept waiting in the ambulance for a further six and a half hours before being taken for a CT scan which showed he had suffered a fracture dislocation of his neck with injury to his spinal cord.
Rather than being admitted to the hospital he was then returned to the ambulance where a doctor reviewed him at 6pm, and he spent 12 hours in the ambulance before he was eventually admitted to the hospital for neurological observation.
His partner heard him hit the floor and called 999 (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
The next day he fell poorly when his blood pressure suddenly dropped and he became unable to move his arms and legs properly. He then spent three months at the Regional Spinal Injuries Centre at Salisbury District Hospital and now has incomplete paraplegia and has to use a wheelchair.
He now says he has persistent weakness in his arms and legs, numbness and pins and needles, which he attributes to medical negligence and is suing South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust for damages for negligence, seeking over £1million.
Both trusts have made partial admissions of liability and say inappropriate movement and delays in treatment can exacerbate spinal cord injury.
The man is now partially paralysed (stock)(Image: Getty Images/Westend61)
Mr Nicholson suffers from Parkinson’s disease, which causes tremors, as well as his rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disorder and suffers from fatigue and depression since the incident.
In the lawsuit he claims that before the accident he was active and independent, enjoying walking his dog, socialising, swimming, visiting the gym and golf range, and taking holidays with Beryl.
The ambulance service has admitted there was a complete failure to appropriately immobilise and handle him after his fall, and that its failure to do so was a breach of duty.
The hospital trust says the working diagnosis was a spinal fracture, and that he should have been immobilised in full spinal immobilisation pending a review, rather than being sat upright in bed in an ambulance.
It admits he should have been referred for an urgent neurosurgical review earlier.
The lawsuit continues.
