A music student who was rear ended in her car on her way to conduct a children's carol concert is to receive damages of €6.8 million.
Hazel McGarrigle (29) of Drumstevlin House in Donegal was in her second year of a Masters at Cork school of Music when she suffered permanent brain damage in a road traffic accident in Carrigaline on December 16th in 2009.
The High Court heard her Nissan Micra was rammed while she was in a queue to get on the main road. She was struck with such force she was pushed into the car in front.
While there was not a mark on her body she suffered a devastating inter cranial injury. She now uses a wheelchair and is fed through a tube.
She sued Breda Broderick of Classes Lake, Ovens in Cork for damages through her father Noel McGarrigle. Liability was not an issue in the case.
Approving the settlement of €6.8 million as a 'satisfactory outcome', Mr. Justice Sean Ryan said he was conscious relatives may 'think the concentration on money is to ignore the human tragedy involved and the heroism of the family in the care they provide'.
The court heard Hazel McGarrigle 'lived for music' and that some of the damages will go towards music therapy.
