ALCOHOL ABUSE IMPAIRS RECOVERY

Being drunk at the time of a head injury can reduce the chances of
recovery, a psychologist told a C-Train crash hearing yesterday.

Dr. Braxton Suffield testified there is a correlation between a person's
intoxication and their ability to be rehabilitated from brain damage.

"Persons who have alcohol in their bloodstream at the time of injury ...
tend to have longer and more difficult stays in hospital and tend to
recover less well," he said.

The neuro-psychologist was the last witness called on behalf on the city in
a $2.7 million negligence trial.

Brent O'Connor, now confined to a wheelchair, is suing over injuries he
suffered while crossing an LRT track on the way to a rock concert June 3,
1989.

O'Connor, then 17, jumped into the path of a C-Train to recover a thrown
jacket near the Erlton LRT station.

He had almost triple the legal level of alcohol for driving at the time of
the accident.

Suffield told city lawyer Mark Young that O'Connor's drinking, both before
and since the crash, have impacted his ability to recover certain skills.

"There is mounting evidence that heavy alcohol abuse in the months prior to
head injury has a negative effect on outcome from that head injury," he
said.

"Mr. O'Connor's continued abuse of alcohol after injury has not enhanced
his recovery."

Justice Ernest Hutchinson will hear final arguments today on whether the
city, or the train driver, were negligent and what damages would be
justified.