The family of a young man who suffered a severe brain injury at birth has been awarded £3.8 million in compensation. The award comes years after the family was wrongly advised that it was not possible to bring a claim after their son’s third birthday.

When he was born, doctors made a catastrophic medical error which deprived him of oxygen. It is thought that the brain damage could have been avoided had he been born just 25 minutes earlier.

The resulting brain injury was later diagnosed as cerebral palsy. As he has grown up, the young man has had to rely on others for his basic needs and remains unable to walk without help. He also cannot speak and has serious learning difficulties.

The family was initially told that they could not claim compensation after their son had reached his third birthday, but this advice was inaccurate. Children are an exception to the general rule that personal injury claims must be brought within three years of the initial incident. In fact, parents can make claims on behalf of their children until they reach 18 years of age. After that, a young person has a further three years in which to make a claim themselves.

After discovering that the time limit for bringing a personal injury claim had not expired, the family sought compensation from the NHS Trust involved, which admitted that the doctors had been negligent. The Trust agreed to pay compensation of £3.8 million which will enable the family to purchase a specially adapted home and to take care of their son for the rest of his life.