A woman who has been honoured for being a mother to 33 children - 28 of them fostered - has been awarded damages at the Circuit Civil Court for the shock of seeing one of the children hit by a car on his first day at school. A judge awarded her €29,000 damages for post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Paul Murray, for Charlotte Corrigan (52), yesterday told Circuit Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery she had fostered 28 children and reared four of her own, as well as a child she and her husband had adopted.
"For her distinguished service to children, she was made Tallaght Person of the Year," Mr Murray told the court, "but because of the nightmare turnaround of her life following the accident, she was unable to go on a sunshine cruise which was gifted to her by the community." Mr Murray said her then five-year-old adopted son, Kevin, was struck by a taxi at pedestrian lights on Tymon Road, Tallaght, as she led him by the hand to his first day at school.
Mrs Corrigan, Castle Lawns, Tallaght, Dublin, told the court she thought her son was dead when she picked him up off the road on September 11th, 2001.
Mr Justice Deery, in awarding Mrs Corrigan €29,000 damages against taxi driver Salvatore Macken, St Dominic's Avenue, Tallaght, said Kevin had suffered a serious brain injury in the accident.
Mr Justice Deery said doctors who had treated her had told the court in medical reports that as far as the post-traumatic stress was concerned, there may be long-term consequences.