$45,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment for Lingering Soft Tissue Injuries to Neck and Back

Reasons for judgement were released recently by the BC Supreme Court, Kamloops Registry, assessing damages for chronic soft tissue injuries caused by a motor vehicle collision.
In this week’s case (Sekhon v. Nguyen) the Plaintiff was involved in a 2006 rear-end collision.  He was 14 at the time.  At trial it was found that “there has been a certain amount of exaggeration…with respect to his injuries” and his claim for chronic headaches was rejected.  Despite this, the Court accepted that the Plaintiff suffered from soft tissue injuries to his neck and back and that the prognosis for full recovery was guarded.  In assessing non-pecuniary loss at $45,000 Madam Justice Ross provided the following reasons:
[49]         I am satisfied that Mr. Sekhon suffered soft tissue injuries to his neck and back in the motor vehicle accident and that as a result he has suffered from headache, neck and back pain. These injuries have gradually but not completely resolved. The prognosis for complete recovery is guarded. I find further that to the extent to which he has suffered from headaches of the kind he described experiencing after August 2009, he has failed to meet the burden to establish causation. I find that he has not suffered from headaches of the frequency and intensity described in his testimony as occurring after August 2009 as a result of injuries suffered in the accident.
[50]         The injuries have interfered with Mr. Sekhon’s enjoyment of many of the activities he engaged in prior to the accident. However, he remains an active young man, able to work, attend school and enjoy many recreational activities.
[51]         In all of the circumstances, I award $45,000 for non-pecuniary loss.