ALAN Synnott was the country's leading solicitor specialising in personal injuries.
He had built up a large and very successful practice, but the 44-year-old father of three suffered from social phobia and facial blushing.
The blushing was interfering with his ability to speak in public and to run his office and deal with staff.
He was referred to a surgeon for an operation to stop the blushing but, during the operation, a vein and artery were damaged and massive bleeding occurred.
Emergency surgery had to be carried out and Mr Synnott, according to court papers, lost over three times his total blood volume in a 3½-hour period.
Three days later, after brain scans, he was pronounced dead.
Yesterday his grieving widow, Eleanor Synnott, settled her action for damages for €5m. "This has given me closure but no money is going to compensate me for the enormous loss of my wonderful husband and father of my children," Mrs Synnott said outside the Four Courts.
She had sued Austin Leahy, a surgeon attached to the Bon Secours Hospital, Glasnevin, Dublin, who carried out the operation over two years ago.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/5m-payout-to-family-after-fatal-operation-223707.html
