By: The Associated Press,

Times-Picayune, March 30th, 2003

BATON ROUGE– A jury has awarded $15.5 million in damages to a man who suffered brain damage and other injuries when an 18 wheeler rear-ended his pickup truck.

The jury awarded another $1 million to _____________’ parents, _____ and _______ ______, for loss of consortium with their son after the Jan. 4, 2000, accident

The $15.5 million award, issued late Thursday, covers _____________’ future medical expenses and care, loss of enjoyment of life, physical disabilities, lost wages and earning capacity, pain and suffering and other damages.

A hearing will be held to determine how much each of the defendant’s – Mike’s Trucking Co. of Grosse Tete, Star Insurance Co., Nutmeg Insurance Co. and Twin City Fire Insurance Co. – will pay, an attorney for the plaintiffs said.

“This is a horribly tragic case,” said Locke Meredith, one of the attorneys for the _____________ family, which sued in state District Court in Baton Rouge. “These were devastating injuries. His life as an adult was terminated. He is like a child that will never grow up.”

_____________ now has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, Meredith said. He also suffered paralysis of the right side of his body and injuries to his spine, eyes, shoulder and mouth, the plaintiffs said.

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