Former MMA fighter settles after collision worsens old injury

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A former MMA fighter whose decade-old neck condition was aggravated by a rear-end collision received a $100,000 settlement, according to his attorney.

Stephen Gerring of Gerring Injury Law said the May 2022 accident resulted in minor property damage. The light impact, however, was sufficient to further aggravate an injury originally caused 10 years before the accident while participating in the full-contact combat sport.

Complicating the case, Gerring said, is that plaintiff had just been given a surgery recommendation by a neck specialist. After living 10 years mostly symptom free, he had begun to experience numbness and sensitivity loss in his hand about six weeks before the accident. The specialist referred him for a C7-T1 anterior cervical discectomy and anterior cervical plating at C7-T1 and told him that leaving the condition surgically untreated would lead to progressively worsening symptoms and perhaps the loss of use of his hand.

Gerrin said his client did not want to get surgery until after the accident, when he started to experience shooting pain in his arm, which proved to be the key to establishing causation. After a lengthy negotiation period, the full $100,000 limits were tendered.

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$100,000 settlement

Motor Vehicle Collision

Venue: St. Louis County

Case Number/Date: Not filed/Aug. 9, 2023

Special Damages: $7,011.58 after health insurance payments

Insurance: Progressive

Caption: Confidential

Plaintiff’s Attorney: Stephen F. Gerring, Gerring Injury Law, St. Louis

Defendant’s Attorney: None