Woman loses £650,000 injury claim after being pictured winning Christmas tree-throwing contest
A woman who tried to claim €760,383 (£649,967) for injuries she suffered in a car crash lost her case after she was pictured winning a Christmas tree-throwing contest.
Kamila Grabska, 36, said she was left with a ‘‘disabling’’ condition following an accident in February 2017 when the vehicle she was in was hit from behind.
She had sued RSA Insurance on the basis that she could not work for more than five years, play with her children or carry out basic chores because of constant back and neck pain.
But the Irish High Court, sitting in Limerick, was shown a photo in a national newspaper of her hurling a spruce tree on Jan 8 2018, during her hearing.
Mrs Grabska argued that while she looked happy in the pictures from the charity event, she was still suffering from her injuries and endured pain to this day.
But Judge Carmel Stewart threw out the case and remarked that the “very graphic picture” of her tossing the tree had helped her make the decision.
The Irish Independent reported the judge as saying: “It is a very large, natural Christmas tree and it is being thrown by her in a very agile movement. I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated. On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim.”
Mrs Grabska, a mother of two from Ennis, Co Clare, told doctors her injuries were so severe after the accident that she could not lift a heavy bag without feeling shooting pain. She said there were times when her husband had to bring medication to her in bed because of her pain.
She quit her job following the crash and took disability payments, writing in court documents that her past and future loss of earnings amounted to £427,340.
But the court heard that just a few days before she had informed doctors of her condition, she had finished top in the charity Christmas tree-throwing event.
During the hearing, some footage was also submitted in evidence from November last year that showed Ms Grabska training her large dog in a park for more than an hour.
She denied the suggestion that she had faked her injuries, telling the court she was simply “trying to live a normal life”, the Irish Independent reported.
Her case was dismissed after the judge ruled her activities following the crash were “completely at odds” with the medical evidence she had given of her injuries.
