A young woman who had to have three fingers amputated after she suffered a serious crush injury when her hand was sucked in to a machine at work, has been awarded more than €640,000 by the High Court.
Clodagh McNally's hand was sucked into a machine after she went to free an envelope caught in it at her workplace four years ago.
Ms McNally (25), Freffans, Trim, Co Meath, had sued envelope manufacturers Trimfold Limited of Duggan Industrial Estate, Athboy Road, Trim, for damages as a result of an accident when she worked there on May 21st, 2002.
Mr Justice Richard Johnson said Ms McNally was obviously traumatised following her injury and while many prostheses can be very good, she will be aware of it all her life. He said she had suffered an appalling injury.
He also took in to consideration that Ms McNally feels her chances of settling down to a married life and having children have undoubtedly been affected.
The judge said he could understand why the young woman did not want to go back to work in the factory where the accident happened and near the machine that did the damage. Computer training, he said, would be a very good idea for Ms McNally.
It was claimed that Ms McNally was attempting to take out envelopes that had accumulated in a machine when her hand was drawn in to the machine, crushing the fingers on her left hand.
The court heard Ms McNally suffered a crushing injury to her left middle, ring and little finger and they had to be amputated to stump level.
It was claimed that Ms McNally suffered a significant cosmetic deformity and cannot now work on machines.
Ms McNally, who was left-handed prior to the accident, now has difficulty with grasping, feeling, handling and manipulating her left hand. She also has problems doing up zips, buttons and handling cash.
She underwent surgery in 2003 which involved the attachment for three weeks of her injured hand to her hip, which was to help a subsequent skin graft.
As a result of the surgery she has been left with a large scar over the hip.
In her evidence, Ms McNally said it was her first job after school and she was packing envelopes in boxes. "An envelope got caught and I went to try and pull it out. My hand got caught. I just pulled it out of the machine," she said.
Days later in hospital, she said she was devastated when she saw her hand for the first time and her fingers had been amputated.
Since the accident, she does not go out because she can't face people looking at her hand. She said she can't iron, lift saucepans or take things out of the oven and had to learn to write again.
Before the accident, she had expectations of marriage. "I suppose I thought I would get a ring on my finger. It won't happen now. It is so hard looking at other girls with rings on their fingers," she said.
The case will be mentioned before Mr Justice Richard Johnson today to finalise the total amount of the award.