Not paralyzed enough: N.S. man sues to be recognized as paraplegic

In the summer of 2011, Mitchell Murphy of Nova Scotia was about to start his final year of university in Cleveland when he suffered a terrible accident.

He caught his flip-flop on a restaurant staircase, went over the railing, and fell nearly seven metres to the ground, causing a traumatic brain injury and a spinal fracture that paralyzed him from the waist down.

Unfortunately for Murphy, his Toronto-based insurance company decided he is not quite paralyzed enough for compensation, and so he has launched an unusual lawsuit, fighting for the legal right to be recognized as paraplegic.

In his daily life, he uses a wheelchair and a hand-controlled car, and his home has been refitted to accommodate his disability.

“Initially, I don’t know what my diagnosis was. Personally, I didn’t want to know, because I make my own objectives. My goal was to rehab hard right from the get go,” he said.

Doctors were more pessimistic. His disability lawyer, Sivan Tumarkin (partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP), said they have diagnosed a permanent paralysis in both legs.

Read the details about Mitch’s story, and how Sivan Tumarkin is assisting Mitch, here in the National Post. His plight was also addressed by CBC News and 640 Toronto.