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Lack of oxygen for 25 minutes, causing a cerebral palsy birth injury, has resulted in an award of £1.35m personal injury compensation being paid by a hospital trust.
The 15-year-old victim cannot walk or speak because of the brain damage he suffered during his delivery at Colchester General Hospital in 1994.
At a High Court case into the damages claim against Colchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, formerly the Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, the judge was told if medical staff had identified the problem earlier and subsequently delivered him in a different way, he would not have suffered any brain injury. Instead, he needed emergency resuscitation and later was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
As well as the lump sum of £1.35m, the teenager's family will receive a number of payments to help cover the cost of his care in forthcoming years.
A hospital trust spokesman said that procedures had changed over the past 15 years. Policies and practices had improved significantly and patient safety was a number one priority at the hospital.
Cerebral palsy is commonly the result of part of the brain failing to develop during pregnancy but can also occur because of extreme prematurity, illness just after birth or complications in labour leading to a birth injury.
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