Fireman in court battle over injury
A PART-TIME firefighter has told the High Court he suffered a career-ending back injury after slipping while carrying a dummy downstairs in the dark through smoke.
Liam Kelly, 55, from Father Paul Murphy Street, Edenderry, said the accident happened during training on June 4, 2013.
He has sued Offaly County Council, which had employed him since 1986, alleging a lack of supervision.
His counsel, John Paul Shortt SC, said Mr Kelly had gone to Tullamore Fire Station to take part in what he described as a ‘farcical fire drill’.
He said the training took place in a custom built tower, where a bonfire had been lit using pallets and diesel, and comprised of a series of dark rooms filled with thick smoke.
Mr Kelly and his colleagues were familiarising themselves with new breathing apparatus sets, and went to search for artificial ‘casualties’ – or dummies. Mr Kelly said his team found a ten-stone dummy in the bathroom on the first floor. He said he carried the upper part of its body under his arm, and his colleague took the lower part.
Both men descended the stairs facing backwards, as they had been trained to do, he said.
‘You couldn’t see nothing,’ he said. ‘I slipped and swung around. Instead of coming down backwards I was now facing across the step. I tried not to drop the casualty, as it was a pass or fail course and they don’t take it well if you drop the casualty.’
He said he screamed, but got to the bottom of the stairs and out into the yard. His left calf had swollen immediately, and he said: ‘My number three [colleague] said Jesus Christ, your leg is going to burst.’
The following day he was sent to Tullamore Hospital for scans, which revealed a muscle tear. He said he was given pain medication but developed persistent lower back pain.
Mr Kelly said he loved his job and cried in his car when he was told he would not be able to return.
He has worked part-time in a bar, but is claiming for loss of earnings from Offaly Council and says he can not drive or stand for a long time.
Offaly County Council has responded that Mr Kelly was an experienced fireman who had been given all the appropriate training, and that the task was properly prepared, executed and supervised.
Mr Kelly admitted he did not disclose his back pain immediately as he did not want the Fire Service to know. During cross examination he was told hiding an injury was giving false and misleading information, and that he could have accessed appropriate treatment sooner if he had been upfront. The trial continues.