A mother of two from Sussex is making a £300,000 personal injury compensation claim after being left permanently disabled when she was hit by a car whilst riding her bicycle.

32 year old Tara Butterfield was cycling to her workplace in Littlehampton in early 2008 when she was struck by the wing mirror of a passing car. It hit her on the back of the head, causing her to incur a fractured skull and brainhaemorrhage. Surgeons claimed that if she had even been travelling one mile per hour faster she could have died.

As a result of the personal injury, Ms Butterfield is now deaf in one ear and is only able to walk for short periods of time. She has also been forced to stop working due to her health condition.

She has problems with her concentration and balance, is often unable to control her temper and has a poor memory.

Ms Butterfield’s compensation claims follow a legal hearing in which the driver responsible, Andrew Poole from Littlehampton, was convicted of careless driving. He was issued with six penalty points on his licence and fined £200 for the offence.

Speaking to her local paper, The Argus, Tara claims that she does not blame Mr Poole for the accident, but that she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, she also says that the accident has changed who she is and has left her with difficulties doing even simple things, such as taking her children to the park.