Graduate who fell in puddle on night out sues for £4m
A FORMER student is suing his university for £4million after slipping over in a puddle at 2am on a night out at the students’ union.
Thomas Hazell, 28, fears he could lose his leg after smashing it when he fell on a disabled access ramp in 2017.
A keen musician and secretary of the university a cappella society, Mr Hazell was in the final year of his modern languages degree at Birmingham University at the time of his accident.
Though the injury was sustained five years ago, Mr Hazell, who is now a French and Spanish teacher at a leading grammar school, says he may still eventually have to have his leg amputated.
Lawyers for the University of Birmingham Students’ Union have admitted liability for his fall, which Mr Hazell’s lawyers say was caused by union staff letting the floor become dangerously slippery, and for failing to warn users about the wet surface.
But the union is due to fight the massive sum. In documents lodged with London’s High Court, Mr Hazell’s lawyers set out how he had a rare bone cancer as a teenager. He beat the disease, going on to achieve top A-level grades despite missing a year and sitting exams while having chemotherapy.
However, he had to have part of his right thigh and shin bones replaced with titanium alloy prosthetics to save his leg. The fall in February 2017 caused a fracture that complicated the pre-existing issues, his lawyers claim, leaving him for the second time in his life at risk of losing his leg.
‘The break to his leg was just above the prosthetic which subsequently had to be replaced and extended,’ his lawyers said, adding that he had gruelling surgery to fit a new artificial implant – plus further surgery after he caught an infection.
‘The condition of his prosthesis and infection has deteriorated and Mr Hazell is due to have further surgery to remove the infected material,’ his lawyers explained.
Mr Hazell, who raised £25,000 at school after being sponsored to shave his head, also suffered from depression due to the student union injuries, his lawyers said.
The case has not reached trial yet as lawyers are gathering evidence about the effects of the leg break.
‘Due to have further surgery’