PHOENIXVILLE, Pa., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A suburban Philadelphia jury has awarded a family $32.8 million after their daughter's birth was botched leading to brain damage for the infant, lawyers said.
A Chester County jury found two nurses at Phoenixville Hospital failed to alert doctors to a drop in the baby's heart rate for 13 minutes during delivery. The result, lawyers argued, was the child, Lilly Ciechoski, suffered brain damage and physical disabilities including arm and leg spasms and the inability to fully control head motions.
During the trial, the family's lawyer sought to persuade jurors though Lilly, now 4, has had difficulties, she will not be confined to a wheelchair for life -- and with proper medical care can eventually learn to lead a relatively normal life. To that end, the family's lawyer had Lilly try to walk in the courtroom before jurors. The child took four steps toward her mother, a moment the girl's mother Leslie Proffitt said was inspirational.
"This is her second chance at life," Proffitt of North Coventry Township said of the verdict. "I think [the jury] saw her determination and could see this is not a little girl who is going to be stuck in a chair for the rest of her life."
The Philadelphia Inquirer said the jury's decision was one of the largest personal-injury verdicts in the county's history.
