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Stacks/The Law Firm - Media
Blind man sues after fall on to tracks
27/12/2009
NOTE:
If you are injured in an accident that could have been prevented with proper care by authorities such as RailCorp you are entitled to compensation. As this story in The Sun-Herald shows, Stacks is helping blind man Mark Bartley after he fell into a gap between carriages at a train station. The newspaper revealed the number of people injured on trains and stations had risen by more than two thirds in one year.
Article courtesy of Sun-Herald - SAFFRON HOWDEN
December 27, 2009
NIGHT was closing in when legally blind man Mark Bartley extended his cane to step on to a train from the platform at Strathfield station, then fell into a gap between carriages and landed on the tracks.
More than two years after that November night in 2007, the 38-year-old Springwood resident has had several operations on his left knee and is unable to work, kneel or twist his body.
''I was getting on a train at Strathfield station on my way home from work,'' Mr Bartley said.
''I'm legally blind and I had a white cane. I put it out and mistook the gap between the carriages for the door and I ended up down on the track.
''I've had three lots of surgery and I've got to have more next year. I'm no longer employed. It's hard enough when you're legally blind to get a job to start with.''
Mr Bartley is suing RailCorp. He also wants to protect other blind and disabled people from the same fate.
''They should have a chain between the carriages or some safety precaution so that people who are legally blind or in a wheelchair can't get through,'' he said.
Mr Bartley's lawyer, Stacks law firm director Grant Avery, said his client would seek ''significant'' damages. ''He's obviously a guy who's gone through life with a lot of hard knocks and he copped another one,'' Mr Avery said. ''It'll be based upon his prospects of recovery from the surgery.''
The matter is scheduled to return to court next year.
A RailCorp spokesman said he could not comment on continuing legal matters.
