Woman sued insurance company for £650k due to debilitating injures - before being pictured winning Christmas tree throwing competition

A woman attempted to sue her insurance company for £650,000, as she claimed she was suffering from debilitating injuries that left her unable to work - before being pictured winning a Christmas tree-throwing competition. Kamila Grabska, 36, told the Irish High Court, sitting in Limerick, that she was injured and left unable to work after being involved in a road collision in 2017.

She was suing her insurance company, RSA Insurance, for £649,967 (€760,383) after she said she was not able to work for five years, as well as claiming to not be able to play with her children or carry out basic chores. However, the court was shown evidence of Ms Grabska winning a Christmas tree-throwing contest - almost one year after she was reportedly injured. She was pictured mid-throw in a national newspaper for a story about the charity event she was taking part in in January 2018.

The mother-of-two claimed that while she was smiling in the photographs, she was actually in tremendous pain and had contacted doctors about her condition a few days later. Following the crash in February 2017, Ms Grabska quit her job and took disability payments, arguing that the injury caused her a loss of earnings that amounted to £427,340 (€500,000). She added that her husband had to bring her medication in bed and denied faking her injuries, telling the court that she was just "trying to live a normal life".

However, Judge Carmel Stewart said that the “very graphic picture”, which showed Ms Grabska mid-throw with the huge fir tree above her head, had helped the court to refuse her claim. According to the Irish Independent, Judge Stewart said: “It is a very large, natural Christmas tree and it is being thrown by her in a very agile movement.”

The court had also been shown footage of Ms Grabska training a large dog in a park for over an hour in November 2023. Judge Stewart added that the activities of Ms Grabska were "completely at odds", saying: "I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated. On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim."