A woman is suing her mum’s GP for millions of pounds for allowing her to be born.
Evie Toombes, 20, from Skegness, Lincolnshire and was born with spina bifida – where a baby’s spine and spinal cord fail to develop in the womb which causes a gap.
In November 2001, Evie was diagnosed with a lipomyelomeningocele (LMM), a form of neural tube defect to the spine leading to permanent disability.
The 20-year-old has appeared on ITV’s show Hidden Disabilities: What’s The Truth? and also met the Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle in 2018 after winning the Inspiration Young Person Award at a charity event.
Due to her condition she has to spend some days connected to tubes for up to 24-hours-a-day.
Despite her difficulties, she managed to form a career in showjumping and competes against disabled riders.
The London court heard that 50-year-old Mrs Toombes – who is also a keen horsewoman – had gone to see Dr Philip Mitchell at the Hawthorn practice to discuss her plans to have a first baby in February 2001.
“This was a very precious decision to start a family, because she herself had lost her parents when she was young,” Evie’s barrister Mrs Rodway told the judge.
“They had been refraining from sexual intercourse until after they had received advice at this consultation.”
However, Evie is suing Dr Mitchell over ‘wrong conception charge’ and she blames him for not advising her mother, Caroline, to take the required supplements prior to getting pregnant.
Dr Mitchell is said to have denied those claims and insists that he gave her mother the appropriate advice.
Rodway told Judge Rosalind Coe QC that Evie is suing for ‘having been born in a damaged state’ and that she wants millions in damages to cover the increased cost of living a disabled life.
The lawyer added that if Caroline was aware of the situation, she would have waited to get pregnant in order to have a ‘normal, health’ baby, but one who was a ‘genetically different person’ to Evie.
On the other hand, Dr Mitchell’s barrister, Michael De Navarro QC, claims that the medic gave ‘reasonable advice’ in regard to folic acid supplements intake.
It was reported that the court heard how Evie’s movement is becoming very limited and she will most likely need a wheelchair as she grows older.
Despite her circumstance, Evie remains to educate children about invisible illnesses and works at Nottingham University.
According to her own website, Evie describes her motto in life as: “Find a way, not an excuse.”
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Original Article: https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-daughter-sues-mums-gp-for-millions-over-pregnancy-claims-20211124
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