Woman who broke neck at Infusion Blackpool Swingers Party starts £10m High Court case against NWAS & hospital

A woman who was left paralysed after breaking her neck diving into a swimming pool at a Blackpool swingers club has launched a £10 million High Court claim against the ambulance and hospital trust.

Holidaymaker Sarah Peel claims in papers just made publicly available at the court, that following the accident her condition was made worse by the treatment she received from the North West Ambulance Services Trust and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The 46-year-old from Bradford claims that ambulance staff failed to immobilise her neck after she was pulled out of the pool, which allowed her condition to worsen, and she is now paralysed from the neck down. She suffered an unstable fractured neck and this worsened as she was taken to hospital, so that by the time it was discovered she had suffered permanent injuries, she says.

The court papers say that she cannot walk, or turn herself in bed, but she is able to push a button on her phone, and can move her ankle a little. However, they say she will never recover, or go back to work, and cannot live independently.

Ms Peel, 46, was enjoying a summer night out drinking at the Infusion Swingers Club on August 29, 2021 and during the evening dived into the shallow end of a swimming pool. Staff saw her floating in the pool, and carefully removed her while her partner called 999, the papers say.

However, they claim that paramedics used a “track chair” to move her from the pool area to an ambulance, without supporting her head, and dropped her, so that she fell to the floor. While she waited in the ambulance, she claims a paramedic spoke to people at the club, saying there was no need to worry as she was moving her arms.

However, her blood pressure dropped, and blood samples showed low oxygen levels while notes recorded she had altered sensation in her arms and legs, the papers say. An X-ray showed that she had a shattered vertebra and she later underwent surgery to remove shattered bone and discs and metal work was inserted.

Ms Peel, of Northampton Street, Bradford, says if paramedics had immobilised her spine before transferring her to hospital, she would not have suffered permanent spinal cord injury.

However, the papers claim that ambulance staff negligently failed to realise the possibility that she had struck her head during a shallow dive into the pool, and concluded she had not done so. They say they could have not reliably reached this conclusion. It is claimed that paramedics incorrectly concluded that she was over-emphasising her symptoms for dramatic effect, encouraged her to move her head and neck, and moved her in a transfer chair, which was dangerous.

Ms Peel also accuses the hospital of negligently failing to suspect she had injured her neck, failing to appreciate ambulance staff had not immobilised her neck, and failing to take any measures to stop her spinal cord injury from worsening.

A spokesman for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said they would not be commenting on the legal case. North `West Ambulance Service have also been approached for comment.