A YOUNG Bolton dad who suffered serious injuries in an industrial accident is fighting for compensation.

Tony Sabanski was crushed when a cage full of mail fell on him at a sorting depot in Tonge Bridge, Bolton.

As reported in the Bolton Evening News last month, his employer, Hayes Commercial Services, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Health and Safety at work Act and was fined £4,000 with £2,352 costs by Bolton magistrates.

Mr Sabanski, of Goldrill Gardens, Breightmet, says he has been unable to work since the accident on April 9, 1997, because of his injuries.

And he is seeking compensation for loss of earnings and mental and physical suffering. Mr Sabanski had been employed by the company, which sorted and distributed mail, for six years.

Crushed

The accident happened during the late shift, which 26-year-old Mr Sabanski regularly worked.

He was wheeling a cage of mail, which weighed about half a ton, to the tailgate of a wagon, when it fell back and crushed him.

His injuries included a snapped femur, fractures in six places, plus a broken jaw and cheekbone.

The next day he underwent an eight hour operation, where metal bolts and rods were used to secure his snapped leg bone. He was unable to walk for six months.

And just before Christmas last year he was on the operating table again when doctors removed one of the rods.

He claims he still has difficulty walking, and suffers from arthritis and depression as a direct result of the accident.

His leg is criss-crossed with scars.

His wife Lorraine, 23, said their lives had changed out of all recognition since the incident.

And her husband's depression and inability to work has put a sometimes unbearable strain on their marriage.

She said: "Life was great before all this.

"We used to play badminton and squash at the weekends and now we can't do anything because of Tony's leg.

"Plus we're both now out of work."

The couple, who have a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Jacob, both used to work on a full-time basis, Mrs Sabanski on day shifts at a local factory.

But following the accident, Mrs Sabanski had to give up work to look after her son and husband.

Solicitor

She admitted that since the accident her husband's employers had been "very good".

And seven months ago, Tony had tried to go back to work at the company.

"But it was a job where he had to stand and his arthritis got worse," she said.

The couple have now secured the services of a solicitor to fight their claim for compensation.

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