|
Statesboro – On Dec. 9th 1975, a Screven County youth was injured in a collision between an Effingham Academy school bus
and a Collins Frozen Foods Inc. truck. Almost three years and two medical procedures later, Terry A. Collins, now 16, was
awarded $200,000 Friday by a Bulloch County jury, reportedly the largest sum of money awarded in a Bulloch County court.
Charles F. Ashman, attorney for the youth, said his client is not related to the owners of the frozen food company,
based in Savannah. Ashman said his client’s right leg was broken in the accident and after standard medical treatment of
the fracture, it was discovered that the injured leg was shorter than the left leg. He said it also was discovered that the
“growth center” of the leg had been damaged, and the youth was then taken to the Shriners Hospital in South Carolina, where
he was treated with the “Wagner leg-lengthening procedure.”
The treatment, he said, required cutting the bone and
surgically attaching a device which would be used to make a separation of the bone by daily increments. After a two-inch
separation was created, a piece of bone, removed from the pelvis of the youth, was inserted along with an artificial plate.
Ashman said his client has a scar from his knee to his hip and a 15-to-20 degree limitation of use of his right leg. He
added that the youth’s right leg is still one-half inch shorter than the left leg.
The trial, which may have been
one of the longest trials held in Bulloch County, lasted four days plus one additional day for arguing motions. Also,
depositions of two physicians, one in Greenville, S.C., and one in Gainesville, were presented to the court by videotape.
This was the first time videotape has been used in a Bulloch County court.
Ashman said the taped depositions helped
his case since jurors could see the X-rays of the youth and the medical devices used in the treatment. The accident
occurred about 13 miles north of Springfield at the intersection of Ga. Highway 21 and Clyo Road. Collins’ lawsuit had
asked for $1.1 million.
|
|
