Brain-Damaged mother sues for compensation
Herald Sun
Liz Burke
February 17,2015
Emma De Silva nurses her newborn baby Eloise. She was pushing the girl in a pram on the footpath beside the Princes Highway at St Peters in Sydney, when they were hit by a car when it mounted the kerb and struck them on 14/03/2011.
A NERVOUS new mum, Emma De Silva set off for a walk in the sun with her 19-day-old daughter to a park near her home in Sydney’s west in March of 2011.
She had only planned to walk about a kilometre from the house. It was the first time had taken baby Eloise out on her own and like any new mum, especially one who had tried for years to fall pregnant and lost her own mother late in the pregnancy, Emma was protective.
But after travelling only 300m, just around the corner, the unthinkable happened.
Emma and her husband Peter have since split.
Emma De Silva on her wedding day.
Mrs De Silva and her daughter were hit by an out-of-control car while she was pushing the pram along the footpath next to the Princes Hwy at St Peters.
The driver was 27-year-old Bryce Wayland, whose driving record included serious speeding offences as well as a ‘burn out’ offence, a court heard when he was sentenced. He smashed into the pair at speed claiming the accelerator had become stuck under a floor mat, changing their lives and tearing a happy family apart in an instant.
Baby Eloise managed to escape the horror crash without severe injuries (she had a broken shoulder minor brain bleeds), but new mum Emma was left critical and remained in a coma for several weeks.
What followed was several operations, intensive rehabilitation including almost a year in hospital learning to walk again, and a lifetime of 24-hour care.
The scene of the crash that changed Emma’s and her family’s lives forever.
Bryce Wayland had his licence suspended and had to complete community service.
Keith Freeman weeps for his daughter Emma De Silva after the accident.
The consequences weren’t just physical too.
Since the horror smash, Emma has had to say goodbye to a promising teaching career. She’s been divorced since the accident and is unable to care for Eloise, who turns four later this month and lives with her father Peter.
In a previous interview, Emma’s father Keith Freeman said his daughter’s marriage breakdown had been “almost as bad as the accident” for the family.
While Emma was left with irreversible damage, the driver of the car, Mr Wayland, has completed the 50 hours of community service he was handed as a sentence, and his 15-month driving ban is well and truly over.
Emma De Silva and her daughter Eloise, who turns four next month.
Four years on and Emma still walks with a frame, her speech is severely slurred and she needs around-the-clock care.
This week, she’s been back in court accompanied by her father Keith Freeman in a compensation battle, fighting for civil damages against Mr Wayland’s insurer, NRMA, for economic and non-economic loss.
Mr Freeman was fighting for his daughter’s loss of income, and compensation for the loss of 31 per cent of her ex-husband’s income.
Today Emma reached a financial settlement with the insurer.
Emma De Silva and her dad Keith Freeman & sister Sarah Freeman (right) during a break in the civil hearing yesterday. Pic: John Grainger
Before news of the settlement broke, Emma’s her friend and founder of the Emma De Silva Foundation, Lyndall Allen told news.com.au about the struggle.
“We’re just still hoping she gets a fair result, and it’s just been one bad thing after another, so hopeful this isn’t another bad outcome,” she said.
“It’s just stressful on the family, but Emma’s coping with it really well. She’s a fighter.”
Speaking with Nine News outside court yesterday, Emma’s father said having the tragedy again play out in court made him think of what might have been.
But optimistic Emma was more focused on the joys in her life, and her “gorgeous” little girl.
“Emma is a fighter”. Source: Facebook
Emma shared pictures of her and Eloise this week. Source: Facebook
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