The accident happened in 2016 in Chilliwack and the verdict was handed down in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver on Friday. Gerson Alvarado was 26 and worked as a supervisor at the construction site, the court heard. When one of the legs holding up the boom of the truck collapsed, it fell onto the men working below. Alvarado was paralyzed and his colleague died. “Prior to the accident, Mr. Alvarado was physically active and regularly played soccer in a men’s league. He and his wife enjoyed various physical activities together. They planned to start a family,” Judge Michael Tammen wrote. “Every aspect of Mr. Alvarado’s daily life has been adversely affected by his injuries. He now endures near-constant chronic pain, as well as episodic acute pain. Once routine things like bathing, dressing, and bowel movements have become time-consuming daily chores.” . The company that built the concrete pump truck, KCP Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., never filed a statement of defense and was held liable. Tammen’s award of damages describes the extent and impact of Alvarado’s injuries.
THE INJURIES
The most significant injuries, the court heard, were to Alvarado’s spinal cord. Fractured vertebrae in the middle of his spine mean he is now a paraplegic, having lost all function below his sternum. He will have to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Despite the loss of nerve function, the court heard Alvarado has “neuropathic pain” which he describes as “an intense burning sensation in the stomach, groin, buttocks and legs” that sometimes feels like “waves of electricity running up and down from his body. “ A second injury to his upper spine means he has some function above his sternum, but has also left him in pain that is “almost constant, varying only in level and intensity,” the judge wrote. Several other bones in his body were broken, his lung collapsed, his kidney and spleen were injured, his internal organs were injured, and he lost so much blood that he needed a “massive transfusion” while being airlifted to the hospital. , the decision said. Alvarado had multiple surgeries, spending months in the hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitation facility. He returned home seven months after the accident. “Mr. Alvarado has lost all ability to use his abdominal muscles and requires assistance with nearly all normal activities,” the judge wrote. The judge found that the extent of his injuries entitled him to the maximum allowable “compensation for the pain and suffering caused by these catastrophic injuries” and awarded him $400,000 in moral damages.
COST OF FUTURE CARE
The jury awarded Alvarado nearly $9.7 million for the cost of future medical care. Since the accident, the judge noted, Alvarado has received about 2.5 hours a day of in-home support, with his wife caring for him the rest of the time. The judge agreed that a live-in caregiver would be the best option, given the extensive list of tasks Alvarado needs help with, including bathing, dressing and undressing, meal preparation, care for bladder and bowel problems and overnight care. This expense made up the bulk of the cost, but treatment by a physiotherapist, psychiatrist, urologist and fertility specialist was also included. “Mr. Alvarado has lost much. No monetary compensation can ever restore his mobility, nor his ability to care for himself,” the judge wrote. “The best a court can do is to provide for various costs of care, including necessary treatment modalities and related expenses, in an effort to restore some normality to Mr. Alvarado’s life.”
LOSS OF EARNING CAPACITY
While Alvarado was on an “upward career path” before the accident, the judge found that he is “no longer able to earn any income and it is extremely likely that he will remain unable to do so for the rest of his life” as a result of of his injuries. The occupation he chose in an occupation required manual, physical labor which he is now unable to perform, the judge noted. An attempt to return to work for the company in a more managerial role after the accident failed, the judge finding that the combination of chronic pain and lack of formal education meant Alvarado would not be able to get or keep an office job. The judge heard that Alvarado was a high-performing, valuable employee at the time of his injury. He agreed that it was possible that if he had continued to work there or in the industry he would have been promoted and his salary increased. The jury awarded just over $3.6 million in lost wages, past and future. Additional damages were awarded to compensate WorkSafeBC for Alvarado’s medical treatment, to compensate the family for their expenses and to compensate Alvarado’s wife for the many hours of unpaid care work she provided. The total awarded was $15,456,192.69.
