Tag: Accident

09 knocked down

Posted on
Knocked down
by a car, his right leg
was shattered.
17 days in hospital,
numerous operations.
He could put no weight at all on that leg
after the accident,
instead relied
on crutches.
When he applied for support
on the basis that he was unable
or virtually unable
to walk,
the Department
knocked him
back.
It said
he could walk
because he could go up to 200 yards
on crutches
before exhaustion set in.

[Huddersfield Examiner, 16/03/2020, Top judges to define what ‘walking’ means]

19 explosion in the Sangin region

Posted on
She received income support
after suffering an accident at work in 2003.
In 2009 her son was killed in Afghanistan;
explosion in the Sangin region.
She received a death in service payment:
66,000.
She found a letter from the Department
telling her the money
made her ineligible to claim support
after she returned from a remembrance service.

[Ledbury Reporter, 19/11/2010, Soldier’s mother in suspense over benefits claim]

47 two. one

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January.
She was called in for an assessment.
She and her sister
spent two hours
on two buses
travelling to the centre
for a two minute assessment.
She was only asked one question:
did you get here by bus?
53 years old,
a former nurse.
She was left partially sighted
after an industrial accident in 1987.
She required walking sticks.
She had slipped and bulging discs
in her back and neck
after an accident at work.
Her pain was exacerbated after an unsuccessful operation in 2012.
Bones from her hand were removed
during separate surgery
after she was savaged by a dog.
Every time one of her arms was touched
she was left in agony
strong pain relief could not ease.
Did you get here by bus?
She replied
‘Yes.’
She was found fit to work.
Her benefits were stopped.
She hadn’t even had the chance
to take her coat off.
Later, she received a letter
telling her to find employment.
She lost her appeal against the decision.
In November,
thirteen days before her second appeal
she was found
on her kitchen floor.

[Daily Mirror, 26/11/2013, Sick nurse killed herself after disability benefits were cut and she was ruled ‘fit to work’ ; Daily Record, 27/11/2014, Former nurse killed herself after controversial ATOS health test ruled she was fit for work ; Bristol Post (via the Internet Archive), 25/11/2013, Bristol woman ‘killed herself after benefits were stopped’]