Injury from Gym Leads To Compensation Settlement

Blanca Diego Casas

Our client was standing by the squat rack at a gym. The squat rack had attachments on the side of it where weight plates can be racked for storage. Our client was standing towards the side of the squat rack where the weight plates were. Suddenly, a 20kg plate fell onto her right foot/toes as the weight slid off the rack. Immediately after the incident, the gym removed those storage racks on the side of the squat rack as they were deemed ‘unsafe’, and a separate plate storage system was put in place.

Our client’s toes were very painful immediately and she was not able to weight bear. Our client attended the hospital and x-rays confirmed fractures of her great and second toes:

•  right big toe intra-articular fracture of the distal phalanx.
• right second toe middle phalanx avulsion fracture.

The injured toes were strapped together, and our client’s foot was placed in a heel wedge, which was kept for two weeks.

The fracture to the second toe recovered in four weeks after the accident. However, the fracture to the big toe was causing ongoing pain, stiffness and functional limitation at the time of the medical examination, almost 15 months post-accident. The medical expert was of the opinion that although further improvement can occur in the following two years, it is likely that the stiffness will remain in the long term and full range of movements will not be recovered. This will likely continue to interfere with the Claimant’s sports activities and daily routines like driving in the long term.

Osbornes made a first offer in the sum of £14,000 gym injury compensation and the Defendant replied with a counter offer of £9,600. The case settled after further negotiations for £10,050.

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