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Crime

17th May 2022

Graduate sues University for £4m after ‘slipping in puddle’ at 2am

Kieran Galpin

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Hazell also needed part of his thigh and shin bones replaced with titanium alloy prosthetics

A graduate from the University of Birmingham is suing the school for £4m after he slipped on a wet disabled ramp back in 2017.

Thomas Hazell, 28, fears he may lose his leg after falling and breaking it due to a rare bone cancer he suffered from in his teens. The former languages student, who is now a French and Spanish teacher, claims that the fall made his leg worse and could’ve ultimately ended in amputation, according to LBC.

University of Birmingham

In written submissions to the High Court, Hazell’s lawyers claim that union staff allowed the floor to become dangerous and forgot to display the correct wet floor signage. Lawyers further claim that he missed a year of school, had to restart his final year and had to undergo chemotherapy while sitting exams.

Beyond chemo, Hazell also needed part of his thigh and shin bones replaced with titanium alloy prosthetics.

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While the University of Birmingham Students Union has admitted fault, they are choosing to fight the enormous lawsuit.

“The break to his leg was just above the prosthetic which subsequently had to be replaced and extended,” Hazell’s lawyers said.

A date for the trial is yet to be set.

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