The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed an appeal by North West Education MEC Viola Motsumi against a High Court judgment finding her liable for damages suffered by a now paraplegic former schoolboy rugby player because of first aid personnel negligence.
Pupil Izak Foster from Hoërskool Lichtenberg injured his neck during a tournament against Hoër Volkskool Potchefstroom in May 2006, when a player fell on top of him after a tackle.
But Foster, then 18, sustained a secondary injury after simply being picked up and carried off the field by first aiders without his neck being stabilised with a spine board or a solid neck brace, resulting in him now being paralysed, reports TimesLIVE.
It later emerged during the trial that one of the first aid attendants was not registered with the Health Professions Council of SA, as he should have been.
The court ruled that Motsumi was liable for 100% of proven or agreed damages suffered by Foster because of how he was carried off the field. The judge also directed her to pay Foster’s legal costs on a punitive scale.
In a majority judgment handed down last week, Justice Connie Mocumie found that the High Court correctly applied its mind when it held the MEC liable for damages Foster suffered.
Mocumie said the appeal revolved around whether the MEC was liable for his second injury.
“The experts agreed this was caused by … first aid personnel in carrying him off the field.”
She said Volkskool had hosted sports events, including rugby, for years and should have foreseen that “if any neck injury was not treated properly and immediately, it could lead to a spinal injury”.
“Volkskool, therefore, had to take reasonable measures to ensure the appointment of a first aid provider and personnel that were qualified for the job … and, at least, experienced and competent to deal with neck injuries.”
Foster had said while he was lying on the field, he could not feel his legs.
“When the two first aid personnel approached him, he protested more than once (three times as the record indicates) that they should not carry him off the field without a spine board,” said Mocumie.
Foster had said: “I did not know what was wrong with me … I just knew they should use equipment to carry me off the field … I suspected I had a neck injury.
“While they were carrying me, my head fell backwards and frontwards.. my head was loose. I was not able to keep it still.”
Mocumie said host school Volkskool “failed to take reasonable steps to ensure competent and properly equipped first aid personnel were available to deal with the clearly foreseeable possibility of serious injuries and their consequences”.
She set aside the order by the High Court that the MEC was directed to pay Foster’s legal costs on a punitive scale, but ruled that the MEC was directed to pay Foster’s costs, including the costs of two counsel.
North West Education Department spokesperson Elias Malindi said they were studying the judgment.
foster judgmentTimesLIVE article – MEC must pay up for schoolboy’s rugby injury (Restricted access)
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