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Court awards £4m to tennis coach paralysed in crash
Sophie Goodchild, Health and Social Affairs Correspondent16 Jan 2012
A tennis coach left paralysed by a hit-and-run driver has been awarded £4million compensation.
Patrice Gougam, now 55, who was also a cycling enthusiast, suffered a near-fatal brain injury when thrown from his bike as it was struck by a Land Rover on the Great North Road between Barnet and Potters Bar in 2009.
His wife, Virginia, today pleaded with drivers in London to take more care to avoid injuring cyclists. The Land Rover driver, Michael Elliott, now 66, was being treated for glaucoma and cataracts at the time, and should not have been at the wheel.
Mr Gougam was in a coma for three weeks and at the National Hospital for Neurosurgery and Neurology in Bloomsbury for six months, receiving further care at two specialist units, totalling 21 months' treatment in all. He still requires round-the-clock care, is fed through a tube and uses a wheelchair.
When head tennis coach at Enfield Chase Tennis Club, Mr Gougam, of High Barnet, had mixed with top players including Martina Hingis. Retired Elliott, of Potters Bar, was jailed for eight months by St Albans crown court after admitting dangerous driving. He claimed he had not seen the cyclist.
After the High Court made the award against Elliott and his insurers, Mrs Gougam's lawyers, Irwin Mitchell, said: "She dearly wishes other motorists to be more aware and patient of cyclists on London's busy roads, so as to reduce the increasing number of tragic stories covering both fatalities and life-changing injuries sustained by cyclists."
The presiding judge praised Mrs Gougam's "extraordinary care, love and support for her husband, and her determination to do everything she could for his care and rehabilitation". While working part-time, she helped to care for him and found a home with disabled access so they could stay together.
