Actress Leslie Ash has been awarded more than £500,000 in damages after contracting a hospital superbug that ended her TV career and nearly killed her. The 47-year-old, best known for her role in Men Behaving Badly, is still recovering and can only walk with the aid of a stick.
The payout, described as record-breaking, comes weeks before she was due to start a £1 million lawsuit against NHS bosses at the High Court. Her lawyers stated that she lost out on 'hundreds of thousands of pounds' in future earnings.
Ms Ash's solicitor, Janice Gardner, confirmed: 'Matters are at a delicate stage, but we are no longer going to court. It will be settled this week.'
Ms Ash contracted MSSA, a variant of MRSA, at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in April 2004. She was admitted with a punctured lung and two broken ribs, which she claimed resulted from 'vigorous' sex with her husband, ex-footballer Lee Chapman, 48. She was discharged days later but returned after losing all feeling in her legs, ending up confined to a wheelchair.
The hospital had already agreed an interim payment of £250,000 after admitting breach of duty, but denied responsibility for the extent of her injuries and demanded proof of her alleged financial losses. Her application for a bigger payout was being considered by the NHS Litigation Authority, which has a policy of trying to settle cases before they go to court.
