Woman wins settlement in cerebral palsy case

A woman whose child has cerebral palsy has reached a settlement with the ambulance service she sued, claiming that they caused her to give birth prematurely.

Margarita Chess had filed a lawsuit against EVAC, an ambulance service, after her son suffered injuries at birth that lead to his cerebral palsy, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Chess was only six months pregnant with her son when she gave birth in an EVAC ambulance en route to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida. The baby survived but suffered brain damage and developed cerebral palsy as a consequence.

The mother received a $5 million settlement from EVAC because the jury ruled that the ambulance service had deprived the baby of oxygen at birth, leading to his cerebral palsy, reports WESH, an NBC affiliate.

Chess was originally at the Bert Fish Medical Center when the doctor ordered a transfer because there was no equipment to handle the birth of an extremely premature baby. The hospital she was transferred to, Halifax Medical Center, could not treat her either. Chess settled lawsuits against both of these hospitals for $1.4 million.