A young man who is seeking damages after he allegedly became deaf while undergoing treatment for leukaemia told the High Court yesterday he had never been told he would lose his hearing.
Mr Niall Gallagher (25), a student, from Ballyhaunis Road, Ballyglass, Charlestown, Co Mayo, said he had been admitted to University College Hospital in Galway with leukaemia when he was 12 years old and had remained there for seven months.
During his time in hospital he lost his hearing, and no one had told him that this would happen, he said. He agreed he underwent intensive treatment for the leukaemia and was lucky to be alive.
After he was discharged from hospital he experienced major emotional problems and great trauma, he said.
He said everything else had been explained to him and he could reason with it, but the deafness was "too much to cope with". If he had had his hearing, he believed it would have helped in his recovery. He felt there was a lack of after-care help but agreed he had continued to see Dr Ernest Egan, a consultant at the hospital, for some more years.
He also agreed he had seen a child psychologist around that time and other counsellors in the following years, but he had not found them of help. He said he did not intend to see any more counsellors.
He could not cope with his emotional problems but felt counselling would not help him. When asked why he was seeking money for counselling if he felt it would not help, he said his problems were rooted in the time just after he left hospital and he hoped to just get on with his life.
Mr Gallagher agreed he had said he wished to be a counsellor for the deaf. "It's a dream. I don't know whether it will be realised," he said.
"I don't feel I need help, I feel I need inspiration," he said.
He was being cross-examined by Mr Michael Carson SC on the second day of his action for damages against the Western Health Board and Dr Egan.
Mr Gallagher claims he was given excessive amounts of the drug Amikacin while undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia between March and October 1985.
He alleges that on or around August 1985 he experienced hearing loss which persisted and increased to the extent that he is now completely deaf, and will be for the rest of his life.
The defence has admitted liability in the case, and Mr Justice O'Donovan is being asked to assess the level of damages. The hearing continues.