DE SMET v. GOLD

November 19, 1997
HH Judge Loyd
Brighton County Court
General Damages: £12500
Total Award: £18941

Burn to scalp caused by negligent hair bleaching treatment. Plastic Surgery. Depression

Female aged 26 at time of accident. Attended Defendant hairdressing salon for a bleaching treatment that was carried out negligently. She left the salon with her scalp burning and attended A & E department of local hospital in pain the day after treatment where a full thickness burn of her crown was diagnosed. She endured severe pain in the first month when the wound was open and suppurating. Within three months it had closed and was covered by a thin tissue of hairless skin roughly 7 cm in area. The skin was tender and would bleed if touched with any force. Five months post injury she was admitted for insertion of a tissue expander beneath a section of scalp adjacent to the bald area.

It was a painful procedure and she was in hospital for five days. She was discharged and over the next two months underwent five out-patient "expansions" where the expander was inflated by the injection of saline thereby stretching the skin above. On each occasion she was limited only by the degree of pain she could withstand, such pain lasting roughly 48 hours. She was then re-admitted for removal of the expander and the expanded follicle-rich skin was pulled over the bald patch. This second procedure required her to spend a further 3 days in hospital. She was left with two scars on the top of her head, five and seven centimetres long respectively. The edges of the these were pulled together in a third operation some fifteen months post-injury.
The Claimant was severely depressed in the aftermath of the injury and her longstanding relationship broke down in consequence of that depression.

She was forced to wear a headscarf until the third operation had been performed as she was acutely conscious of the unsightly appearance of her scalp both before the surgery and whilst the expander was in situ. The Claimant had resumed her studies and performed impressively despite the obvious distress caused by her pain and depression. Her sleep was disturbed, she lost weight and had no interest in her usual recreational activities. At the time of trial some two and a half years after the accident she was not yet fully recovered but the prognosis was for a full recovery.
The trial judge noted that this was not a case that fell neatly into any particular category and awarded £10000 and £2500 for the physical and mental elements of her injury respectively.

General damages: £12500.
Claimant's solicitor: Colum J Smith, McMillan Williams.
[Ex rel. Michael J Mylonas-Widdall, Barrister.]