A promising young soccer player who suffered extensive injuries when a car slammed into her on a footpath has had most of her compensation claim dismissed after a video of her ‘twerking’ nearly three years later surfaced.
Meah Crystal Baldock-Davis, 23, told Daily Mail Australia her attempts to move on with her life were used against her during her injury claim after being hit from behind as she walked along Sunshine Blvd on the Gold Coast to her job at Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on July 4, 2019.
The driver, Adrian Popham, exited a side street and collided with a red hatchback, sending it onto the footpath where Ms Baldock-Davis was thrown onto the bonnet, over the windscreen and to the ground before a brick fence hit by the car fell on her.
‘I heard a loud smash and then the car hit me from behind and sent me flying over the bonnet. I remember my shoe flying off, then on the ground a brick pillar fell on me and trapped me under it,’ Ms Baldock-Davis told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I coughed up some blood and could hardly breathe until someone lifted the bricks off me. There was a lovely off-duty nurse who helped me through the pain and covered me with a towel as I had wet myself from the force of the impact.’
Promising young soccer player Meah Crystal Baldock-Davis (pictured) was hit from behind by a car as she walked along a footpath towards her job at Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast
The 23-year-old was thrown over the bonnet and to the ground in the crash where she lay for 30 minutes with a collapsed lung and broken bones before an ambulance arrived (pictured)
She was awarded a small fraction of the amount her lawyers had been asking for after the accident
She lay on the ground for more than 30 minutes before paramedics arrived and then spent four days in hospital with three fractured ribs, spinal injuries, multiple pelvic contusions, a collapsed lung, and a broken toe.
Mr Popham and his insurer AAI Limited admitted liability but argued there were minimal lasting effects from Ms Baldock-Davis’s injuries in Queensland’s Supreme Court, where she was suing for $600,000.
She had been a talented soccer player competing in Division 1 on the Gold Coast before the crash but had to stop because of her injuries.
She recommenced playing in 2022 with a Burleigh Heads club but said this was in Division 2 and her back would seize up and she would need days to recover after each game.
Lawyers for Mr Popham and AAI submitted records to the court showing she played at least part of 18 games out of the 20 games for the club in that season.
The records showed the club played in Division 1 and not the lower division as Ms Baldock-Davis claimed.
They found footage of Ms Baldock-Davis heading a ball during a game and ‘twerking’ while holding onto a walker during an end-of-season team trip.
An orthopaedic surgeon called by AAI’s lawyers testified that it was ‘inconceivable a person with even minor neck problems would head a soccer ball as she was seen doing.’
The court also heard Ms Baldock-Davis’s brother posted a video of the pair of them wrestling in a jumping castle and sliding down a slide to land heavily on her back two months after the accident.
But Ms Baldock-Davis said her pain would vary from day-to-day.
‘After struggling with pain for over two years my mental health was depleting and I decided to try and go back and play the sport I loved since I was a little girl.’
‘Although I suffered from pain after playing, my mental state improved dramatically and I found myself using soccer as an outlet.’
‘The insurance company used a 30-second video of me dancing and making jokes and equated that to me not having any pain at all.’
‘I strongly believe that even though people have traumatic injuries they can still push through them to do the things they love.’
‘I’m young and full of life, I don’t want to be limited by something that wasn’t my fault so I’ve tried to move on and create memories with friends and family.’
An x-ray showing one of Ms Baldock-Davis’s spinal injuries suffered in the crash
The tough university student said she was disappointed with the the court decision but was trying to remain positive (pictured in hospital after the crash)
She has been walking along the footpath on this part Sunshine Blvd when a collision near the intersection sent a car flying into her
After being discharged from hospital, she was also required to wear a neck brace but lawyers for the insurance company argued she had not worn it as much as she claimed.
She told an orthopaedic surgeon hired by her lawyers that she wore the neck brace for three months but a doctor’s referral was found saying she only wore it for two-and-a-half weeks.
‘When asked about the neck brace I answered that I was recommended to wear it for three months but I didn’t wear it that long, my pain could change day to day due to things like if I was working or not.’
The lawyers also contested her hours worked at Big W after the she was released from hospital, saying pay records show they had increased on average to 34.20 hours a week.
In the six months before the crash, the records indicate she worked 10 hours a week less, though she said she had cut back her hours even more.
‘I actually had to leave two jobs, one as a retail worker where I had to constantly bend down, pack merchandise and stand on my feet all day and the other was a receptionist where I was sitting down for eight hours a day five days a week.’
‘Due the extent of my injuries and the pressure on my spine from sitting and standing for long periods I struggled. At the end of the day or week I would be in a lot of pain.’
Ms Baldock-Davis was struggling so much she went back to a medical professional who found further spinal fractures that were missed in her initial hospital x-rays.
‘One fracture was a transverse fracture that has fused in the wrong place. I didn’t even know about these when I was interviewed by the doctors and lawyers for the insurance company.’
On February 23, Ms Baldock-Davis was awarded $21,510 in general damages, $5,943 in economic loss, $6,067 in special damages, and $5,000 in future special damages – less than a tenth of what her lawyers were asking for.
‘Unfortunately due to the outcome, I wont be seeing a cent and will possibly be in debt the insurance company over legal fees – that’s really difficult to comprehend considering what I’ve been through.’
‘It’s heartbreaking to know that because I tried to move on with my life that was used against me.’
‘I’m trying to be strong and have faith but it’s extremely difficult with so much uncertainty regarding my physical health. I’m still suffering from pain in my lower back that can be crippling.’
‘There was no amount I believe I’m entitled to but I do think after the trauma and injuries I received I deserve some help and stability as this will affect my ability to get stable income over the years.’
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