A Vancouver Island single mother has been awarded $1 million in damages after a November 2016 car accident when she was 39 left her incapable of working full time.
Lisa Gark was stopped waiting to merge into highway traffic near Courtenay when the defendant Ashley-Marie Lauzon rear-ended her vehicle while driving the car owned by her mother, the other defendant, Gail Lauzon.
“Ms. Gark is permanently, partially disabled,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Neema Sharma ruled in the Nov. 6 decision.
Gark has been a single mother since 2014. She has raised three children. She supported herself and her daughter by working full time at a spa in Courtenay.
Sharma said Gark was a very active person who loved the outdoors and engaged in camping, hiking, fishing, kayaking as well as hobbies, including photography, woodworking and crafts.
Sharma said after the accident Gark began experiencing a bad headache, pain in her shoulder, neck, hips, and lower back.
“She went to the hospital and was given muscle relaxants and told to follow up with her family doctor,” Sharma said.
Gark also experienced restricted neck range of motion that negatively impacted her sleep, and made basic tasks such as washing dishes, cleaning the bathtub, or carrying groceries difficult.
Gark testified she had hot, burning, and aching pain in her lower back, which has been constant since the accident.
And, she started having pain radiating down her left leg in 2017, an affliction that worsened in intensity and range in 2017 and 2018.
“Over time, the pain began to be accompanied by numbness in her leg, foot, and pelvis, and muscle weakness,” Sharma said.
The judge continued: “She testified that she feels defeated and expressed sorrow at how the accident and injuries has diminished her relationship with her children as she was unable to provide them with stability. She believes that she lost custody of her children because of the instability in her life. She worries about the lasting impact of that on her relationship with her children.”
Sharma concluded the accident has caused Gark to suffer multiple issues.
“Overall, I find the injuries have had a drastically negative impact on her life.”
Broken down, Sharma awarded the following:
• non-pecuniary damages - $220,000;
• past loss of earning capacity – $125,000;
• future loss of earning capacity - $475,000
• cost of future care - $175,000; and,
• special damages - $10,278.
