Marrianne experienced a high-level spinal cord injury. In this video, both she and her partner Andy tell their story, along with input from John Sherrington, senior partner at Serious Law LLP.
Marrianne: I went to a friend’s wedding with my sister and our friends and on the journey back we had a car accident. I was in the rear, in the back of the car.
Andy: I think initially, because you’re so wrapped up in Marrianne’s injury and just her health, you don’t have any inclination of what’s going to happen in the future, so it doesn’t really cross your mind.
But then slowly as the weeks go by, people start saying to you, “You’re going to have to start thinking about this; you’re going to have to think about that”.
Then you maybe start to panic a little bit.
Marrianne: I first heard about Serious Law – it’s quite ironic, actually – because my sister works in the care industry and she was looking after a gentleman with a high-level spinal injury.
So he actually put us in touch with them, and Serious Law spoke to us and then came to the hospital to visit us.
John: Very serious cases only happen to a very small number of people. So if you are unfortunate enough, whereby someone in your family or one of your loved ones is involved in one of these scenarios, it’s only a one-off situation.
Marrianne: We wouldn’t know where to start. We didn’t have a clue about anything. Obviously, it’s all new to us, but they took it all on board and took a lot of stress out.
John: Choosing the right lawyer in a very, very serious accident case can be one of the most important decisions somebody makes in their lives.
Marrianne: [to Andy] You dealt with them mainly, didn’t you, to start with…
Andy: Yeah I had the initial meeting with the guys, and it did become apparent pretty quickly how much knowledge they had.
John: Well there’s a world of difference between a personal injury lawyer and a serious injury lawyer who deals with very serious cases.
Andy: I think initially, because there’s so much you’re being told from the doctors, from the nurses, that when someone mentions solicitors, automatically you think, “Oh that’s just for money, but we don’t need money at the moment. We need care and help for Marrianne”.
But once you sit down and it’s explained that it’s not all about money; it’s about everything else you’re going to face. There are so many elements that come together and Serious Law was a massive part of that.
John: When these very serious cases occur, we have to take into account what the individual needs of the client are.
That can mean housing adaptations, it can mean special assistive technology, and it can mean all kinds of things.
Andy: When we had the call from the guys at Serious Law to say that everything had gone through; it was difficult to describe.
Marrianne: Yeah, it was.
Andy: It was strange because it was a really dark time but it was a rare piece of good news for us.
John: In her particular case, because she is such a nice woman who has been confronted with an enormous tragedy in her life, we were extremely pleased when it all worked out for her.
Andy: Marrianne’s life changed so much because of the injury, but the input the guys had has certainly made that transitional period a hell of a lot easier than it would have been without their help.
One of the big factors is that we’re still very much in touch with the guys at Serious Law. So it isn’t a case of after that call, that was it and everything was done and dusted. We speak to them regularly.
Marrianne: I’d definitely class them as friends now.
Andy: Yeah, they’re literally at the end of the phone so if there is a problem with anything that we’ve got; we just give them a call.
Marrianne: Nothing’s ever too much for them. They’re always there to help us.
Andy: It probably sounds a bit corny, but we do consider them as friends.
John: We see Andy and Marrianne as friends too and I actually get to see them on a regular basis. It’s always a pleasure to see Andy and Marrianne. We take a view that there’s a lot of good that’s come out of what was a real tragedy.
She’s an inspiration to us, Marrianne. Yeah, it gives us a little warm glow inside, and that maybe we did something right somewhere.
Andy: Serious Law – I can honestly say that I can’t speak highly enough of the guys and I have recommended them to a number of other people since that we’ve come across with injuries.
Just their knowledge is one thing, but the way they go about their work is brilliant.
The relationship they build with you is a relationship that is very genuine, and it continues long after your case.
Marrianne: They’ve helped me so much along this journey. They’ve taken a lot of stress out of our lives and I don’t know where I’d be without them.
I think they’re amazing and I’d like to thank them.
