Paramedic Sonia Laura Grapes’ legal bid for Post-traumatic stress disorder damages dismissed

A decision has been made on an emergency first responder who sued the State for career-ending post traumatic stress disorder.

Generic ambulance, QAS, Queensland Ambulance Service. Picture: Kevin Farmer

An emergency first responder sued the State for career-ending post traumatic stress disorder she claimed was triggered by her experience treating a patient whose arm was almost completely ripped off when the car he was in crashed into a tree.

Sonia Laura Grapes had been a Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic since 2007, but late at night on September 2, 2018 she responded to a car crash at Mount Tamborine in the Gold Coast hinterland.

She stayed with an injured male passenger for about an hour, whose arm “had been almost completely amputated” in the crash and the paramedic “retrieved his humerus bone from where it was lodged in a tree several metres” from the car, according to court documents.

From this point on, Ms Grapes’ ability to cope with her work as a paramedic deteriorated – on some days she had to go home early due to panic attacks, on other days she was overcome with panic and nausea on the drive into work and called in sick.

Between January 2019 and April 2019, Ms Grapes took 100 hours sick leave, before breaking down in April 2019 when the extent of her sick leave was raised and asking if she could reduce her work to part-time or on a job share basis.

For a further 18 months, Ms Grapes had many days off, struggled to cope with anxiety and work-related traumas, and by January 2021 she had no motivation to leave her home.

It was at this time that her GP Dr Norman identified then that her psychological symptoms were caused by word, identified she had PTSD, and made referrals to a psychiatrist.

Dr Norman also submitted an application for WorkCover benefits for Ms Grapes in January 2021 and she never worked as a paramedic again.

The former paramedic took her case to Brisbane Supreme Court claiming damages for personal injuries against the State, as well as Brad Allen – the driver of the car that crashed that night – and his CTP insurer AAI Limited trading as Suncorp Insurance.

Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

However, due to the time taken for Ms Grapes to obtain her diagnosis, recover to a point of being able to function, engage lawyers to prepare her claim, and have her lawyers find out the identity of the car driver, she had exceeded the time limits to bring such a claim.

She asked the Supreme Court to extend these time limits and allow her to bring her case.

Ms Grapes had to demonstrate to the court that she did not know the true nature and extent of her psychological injury prior to her psychiatrist’s diagnosis in December 2022, which included the findings that her condition was permanent, she would not be able to return to work as a paramedic, and that the September 2018 car accident had caused her PTSD.

But Justice Michael Copley found Ms Grapes had “at least within the means of her knowledge” that the 2018 accident caused her PTSD before her psychiatrist’s official report.

Her GP’s notes dated March 10, 2021 record that Ms Grapes “can’t see [her]self ever being able to return to QAS, misses workmates”.

“This stated belief that the applicant [Ms Grapes] could never see herself returning to her job as a paramedic is very important evidence … it reveals that the applicant believed in

March 2021 that her career was finished,” Justice Copley said in his decision.

“The warning signs calling for prudent inquiry were there.

“The information in [her GP] Dr Norman’s note can only have been provided by the applicant. I cannot accept her evidence that she would not have provided that information.”

Ultimately, Justice Copley ruled that Ms Grapes should have been able to obtain the car driver’s information by early 2022 and launch her case within the required time, rather than what eventuated – her lawyers only getting the driver’s details in September 2023.

“I consider that it was then [around mid-2021] that the applicant [Ms Grapes] was obliged to take reasonable steps to find out the identity of the first [CTP insurer] and third [car driver] respondents,” his decision said.

“Even allowing for the hurdles [Ms Grapes’ solicitor] encountered in ascertaining the identity of the first and third respondents, it would have been within the means of the applicant’s knowledge if assisted by a solicitor to have discovered their identity by early 2022.

“I order that the application be dismissed.”

Originally published as Paramedic Sonia Laura Grapes’ legal bid for Post-traumatic stress disorder damages dismissed