Legal eagles raise spinal cash

Cash raised by specialist bike law firm Fletchers Solicitors (also known as Bike Legal) has enabled Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust’s Regional Spinal Injuries Centre to help with the rehabilitation of serious spinal injuries.

The donation will aid in the rehabilitation of people, many of them bikers, who suffer serious spinal injuries. Centre director Pradit Sett said: “We are very grateful to Fletchers for this generous donation which has enabled us to buy much needed equipment to help patients with their rehabilitation.”

The equipment bought includes an Evolv Glider, which allows patients to exercise their legs using upper body strength whilst standing supported in the machine, an Actuator Grandstand, which allows patients to receive therapy in an upright position, four tilting over-bed mirrors for patients who have to lie flat on their back, six Vacuaid suction machines for patients being ventilated, two laptop computers and an Xsensor display unit used to monitor pressure points in real time on patients either in bed or in a wheelchair.

Presenting a cheque for £19,000, Fletchers Solicitors senior partner Rob Fletcher, a keen biker, said: “We are delighted to be able to support the centre in its vital rehabilitation work. The money was raised partly from an auction held at our clients and friends golf day at Hesketh Golf Club where we promised to match the total sum raised.”

Fletchers partner Ed Fletcher, himself a paraplegic wheelchair user following a biking accident, added: “It is great to be able to support people involved in serious injury rehabilitation. My team at Fletchers specialises in spinal cord injury claims and I have seen for myself how important effective rehabilitation is in the cases.

“When I was 17,” he continued, “my best friend Ben broke his neck playing rugby and I saw how much red tape he had to get through to get compensation. Around this time I was thinking about a career and decided to become a solicitor and help people like Ben. Ironically, a few years later I was involved in a freak motorcycle accident which left me paralysed from the waist down.”