A non-fault collision in April while cycling home has left me with a pretty knackered shoulder. Basically Humerus head fractured off of the Humerus as well as being fractured in 3 places itself. It now sits 30deg off where it should sit. All in all a pretty nasty injury that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. As it stands atm. I can lift my right elbow up to mid chest height ie cannot touch the top of my head with my fingertips. My Lawyer has told me to look in the book of Quantum to see where I stand with regards amount of compo. Quantum basically splits severity of injury into 3. Mild, moderate & severe.

Moderate

Fractures to the humerus that may have required surgery with either a full recovery
expected or minimal low level ongoing pain but not lack of movement to the arm.

Severe and permanent conditions

Complex and multiple fractures to the humerus which required extensive surgery
and extended healing but may result in an incomplete union and the possibility
of having or has achieved arthritic changes and degeneration that may result in
permanent loss of function to the arm.
At the moment everything in severe rings true apart from the ‘extensive surgery’ bit ( although not ruled out ). Would I still fall under this definition?

Why is your lawyer asking you to do their work for them?
Commiserations on the injury btw. Sounds similar to one I suffered 10 years ago. 4 part proximal humerus. Have you had it surgically fixed?

The lawyer has said if I want to know what value is put on it it will be taken from the book of Quantum if I was interested..

No not surgically fixed as yet although the independent consultant I saw yesterday said that it possibly should of been surgically fixed at the time. If he had to of made the call with it being my dominant arm, self employed builder/carpenter he probably would of operated. My consultant keeps saying we can always operate in 12 months if it doesn’t do what you want it to etc.. to which yesterday’s doc said he doubts very much if they’ll re-break something yo try and fix it.

The guy that did mine (at a teaching hospital with a busy a&e/trauma unit) said he did a lot of work operatively fixing upper limb fractures that had been “treated conservatively” (ie put in a sling) at other hospitals.
The type of fracture we’ve had is more typically a little old lady fracture caused by crumbling bones and therefore not one that would do well with metalwork.
However in your case and mine where significant force was involved to cause these multi part fractures I think that given, as you say, that you are active and fit and well etc and it’s your dominant side then the case for surgery has to be considered.
Shame it’s taken 6 months already. I’d be wanting to really talk about surgical options with a specialist who does a lot of these. Presumably your insurance (assuming they are paying the lawyer for you) could sort that out?
I was warned that non union 18 months down the line was a possibility. The blood supply to the bits that basically got pulled off the head of the humerus can be damaged.
Surely you won’t know whether it’s moderate or severe for some time yet? It doesn’t sound like the episode is finished.
Could one outcome be shoulder replacement in a few years?

Moderate = no loss of movement, this is not you! Therefore severe. Functionally speaking this is far more relevant than how many surgeries you have had as it this that directly affects your activities of daily living. For what it’s worth that’s the opinion of a physio, not a lawyer. Good luck!

Thanks Sterner, docrobster
Yes shoulder replacement a possibility. The doc told me also it’s normally an old persons injury.

Had a shoulder replacement on my right dominant shoulder.
Was treated conservatively for 9 months, which resulted in bone death due to poor blood supply.
Changed consultant and hospital, new consultant said he would have operated immediately had I seen him first and would have had much better results
Even now have very restricted movement and can have a lot of pain, but much better than before the replacement
You need to make the best of a bad situation and think of the future as further surgery may be required as replacements do wear out.
The biggest part of any compensation will be future loss of earnings, the actual injury compensation will be fairly minor comparatively
The injury compensation was around 20% of the total claim
I used Leigh Day solicitors via British Cycling, they were excellent

Not on the lawyer side of things but similar happened to my mate, if you can I believe Mr Funk https://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/article/240 is one of the best going for a consult. I saw his name pop up on Rachel Athertons instagram/xray show last week too.

@ crazybaboon
When you say impaired movement how impaired? With mine at the moment I can’t touch the top of my head as my elbow won’t go high enough. How much movement did you have before the op? I had to cancel a planned Morzine trip this year as I can’t get back far enough on the bike for downhill.

@Mikew I don’t know how I’m going to get from NHS to one of the best consultants in the country…

Tymbian, you’ve every right to ask for a second opinion. Whether that is an nhs referral (potentially long wait) or funded through your insurer in lieu of this compensation that you seem to be entitled to down the line is probably a discussion you need to have with your lawyer.
But you don’t HAVE to see len funk to get a decent outcome. I’m just over the other side of the Pennines to him and even Yorkshire surgeons are able to fix shoulders. The main thing is to get to see someone who has expertise in upper limb trauma surgery.
Don’t know where you are in the country. Perhaps you should speak to your GP re who to see, then ask your insurer to facilitate it.