[Opinion_counts]

I don't even know what to say, I'm left speechless on this one...

Bank cashier left 'crippled with pain' after being forced to carry bag of coins


A BANK cashier has won £18,500 from her former employers after injuring her back lifting heavy bags of coins.

Mary Deller said she was asked to carry two bags of cash - each containing 500 in £1 coins - without being given health and safety training at a branch of NatWest in Cheriton, Kent,

The 26-year-old said that as she lifted the bags - which weighed a total of just over 21lbs, or 1.5 stone - she felt a ‘click in her back’ and ‘intense pain’.

Miss Deller, of Folkestone, Kent, said she has been ‘crippled with pain’ since the incident in September 2010 but took painkillers and continued to work for a week before phoning in sick.

Her doctor sent her to a specialist spinal surgeon, who diagnosed two bulging discs - a painful condition caused by discs in the spine moving out of line.

She said she had been unable to work since the injury, and last week received a payout of £18,500 in an out of court settlement with the bank to cover her lost earnings.

Miss Deller, speaking today, said: 'Lots of customers had been in during their lunch break to bank bags of coins, which had started to mount up behind the till area.

'I bent down to pick up two lots of coin bags, which had 500 £1 coins in, to put on a nearby trolley.

'I felt a click in my lower back and then an intense pain. At the time I thought I’d just pulled a muscle and carried on as normal.

'I managed to carry on working for the next week, but my back was still painful and I was starting to rely on painkillers to get me through the day.'

'Eventually I couldn’t get out of bed because it hurt so much and my doctors signed me off work for eight weeks.'

Miss Deller said she was prescribed seven different kinds of tablets, including anti-depressants, pain killers and anti-inflammatories.

She said the medication left her feeling light-headed and depressed.

Doctors also found that Miss Deller's injury had aggravated a previously undiagnosed genetic degenerative spinal condition.

She went on: 'I just don’t feel like me anymore. I used to be really active and loved nights out dancing and exercising at the gym but now I’m hobbling around in constant pain.'

Miss Deller insisted she was never taught how to lift heavy items properly by NatWest.

She added: 'I wasn’t given any general hints and tips about how to lift things without hurting myself.”

Sophie Davies, a workplace accident specialist at Irwin Mitchell - which helped Miss Deller in her case to recover lost earnings and costs for specialist medical treatment - said it was crucial that employers provide health and safety training to staff.

She said: 'Unfortunately we see many cases like Mary’s where people have been injured because they haven’t received any proper health and safety training by their employer.'

A spokesman for NatWest refused to comment on the payout, stating: 'We do not comment on individual cases.'