A schoolboy who injured his knee when he was tackled during a football game on his school grounds has been awarded €30,000.
The boy, who is now 17, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal where the award was made.
The court heard that the incident happened on September 3rd, 2021 at a school in Ballybofey.
The boy, who was a third year pupil, was tackled by another pupil resulting in the boy being injured.
He was taken to hospital having suffered an injury to his knee which included a fracture to his right leg and soft tissue injuries.
A hospital report revealed how the boy had to initially spend three days in hospital while two pins had to be inserted into the boy’s leg.
He also had to spend six weeks in a plaster cast as a result of the injury.
An initial medical report taken seven months after the incident showed that the boy was walking with a slight limp and that he also suffered two small scars.
Another medical report taken one year and eight months after the incident showed the boy no longer had a limp, had a full range of movement and that his right knee was stable.
A further report dated May 18th, 2023 showed the boy had a full recovery and was back to normal.
Barrister for the victim, Mr Peter Nolan, BL, referred to the various categorisation of injuries within the personal injury guidelines.
Mr Nolan said that overall his client had recovered well and that there were no difficulties.
He added that liability is this case might be an issue as the school were not the perpetrators (of the injury).
He said this was not a “structured situation” and that those on the other side of the case could have argued what could they have done because this was a game of football and it happened at lunchtime.
“We could have found ourselves in a difficulty of liability,” he said.
Judge John Aylmer said he had no hesitation in approving the offer and also awarded special damages of €150 for travel.
He also awarded costs to the plaintiff.