Grapes v AAI Limited
[2024] QSC 267 · Copley J
The applicant was a paramedic with the Queensland Ambulance Service. In September 2018 she attended a serious car crash at Mount Tamborine, where she stayed with a young man whose arm had been almost severed and retrieved part of his arm bone from a tree. She later developed post-traumatic stress disorder and could not continue working as a paramedic. Because she did not start court proceedings within the normal three-year time limit, she asked the court to extend the deadline, arguing she only fully understood the seriousness of her injury, its link to the accident, and the identity of the insurer and driver at later dates. The court disagreed. It found she knew, or could reasonably have found out, that the accident caused her PTSD and that her career was over by early 2021, and that she could have discovered the insurer's identity earlier by instructing solicitors sooner. The court dismissed the application, meaning her damages claim cannot now proceed.
Incident & injury
Paramedic attended the scene of a single-vehicle motor vehicle accident where a young male passenger's arm had been almost completely amputated; she remained with him for about an hour and retrieved his humerus bone, developing post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Body regions
- Psychiatric
- Diagnoses
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major depression (reactive), Anxiety and panic attacks, Insomnia
- Incident date
- 2 September 2018
- Location
- Mount Tamborine, Queensland
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 6 November 2024
- Claim type
- MAIA
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Unsuccessful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- Occupation
- Paramedic with the Queensland Ambulance Service Professional
Outcome
The applicant, a paramedic who developed PTSD after attending a fatal-type motor vehicle accident in September 2018, sought an extension of the limitation period under s 31(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act to sue the CTP insurer, the driver and the State. The court found the asserted material facts were either known or within her means of knowledge before the critical dates and dismissed the application.
Key issues
Grapes v AAI Limited [2024] QSC 267
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Learn more about motor vehicle accident claims and psychological injury claims in Queensland.