A CHEF who claimed a parasol base fractured his right big toe after he helped move them in Kinsale was unsuccessful in pursuing a personal injury claim during a civil claim at Bandon District Court this week.

John Paul McCarthy, with an address at Cork Street, Kinsale told Judge Joanne Carroll that he and a colleague were outside having a cigarette on July 27th 2021 before they started service at The Supper Club Restaurant.

He said Fionnuala McCarthy of The High Tide Restauran on Main Street in Kinsale asked if they could help her move a table outside. Mr McCarthy told her that he had hernia and wouldn’t be able to lift heavy objects. He said he picked up a parasol but the base of it fell on his toe.

‘There was pain straight away. I went to my GP the next day who referred me to the Mercy Hospital who confirmed it was a fracture of my big toe. Doctors body-strapped the toe and the one next to it, and it remained there for about four weeks,’ he said.

He said he could walk without any pain but was unable to work due to the injury and that pressure on his toe caused him pain. He said he went back to work at the end of 2023.

Solicitor Kevin Nagle for the defendant said his client had a different recollection of that day, and that she was trying to put a heavy table into a cage outside her premises.

‘She said she asked both of ye for help in moving the table but never asked you to move the parasols. She said that one would need training for lifting parasols, as they can be difficult to move,’ said Mr Nagle.

However, the plaintiff said this was not correct, and that he did not recall any mention of moving a table. His barrister Ali Bracken BL told the court his client was not claiming for loss of earnings as a result of the accident.

William Pear told Judge Carroll that he was outside with the plaintiff on the day in question and took one of the parasols, and then turned around to see the base of another parasol fall on the plaintiff’s big toe. He said he could not recall anything about moving a table.

Defendant Fionnuala McCarthy said a table was lying on its side by a wall on a shared laneway between her premises and The Supper Club.

‘I saw the two men and asked them for help in moving the table and told them not to lift the parasols, as one needs to be trained in how to lift them. As Mr Pear was moving the table I turned around to see the plaintiff lifting the parasol and then the base fell on his toe,’ she said.

Her solicitor Mr Nagle said there were some discrepancies in the evidence provided by the plaintiff, but that his client was very specific and flagged the issue of not lifting the parasol base: ‘He was the author of his own misfortune,’ said Mr Nagle.

Judge Carroll said the court is satisfied that the plaintiff was asked to help with moving the table and he decided of his own volition to move the parasol.

‘Unfortunately, he had an accident and he should have exercised more caution,’ said the judge, who dismissed the case.