Ray Parker

Ray Parker is looking for the woman who saved his life. 
Victim of a cycling accident which left him with a serious brain injury, slurring his speech and causing some Dysphasia, Ray is grateful he is as much “himself” today as he is; in the case of brain injury, the time that elapses between impact to the head and treatment is critical in preserving as much brain function, and as much of your personality, as possible. In Ray's case he was extremely lucky that a casual passer-by on the quiet cycle path where the accident happened, between Canterbury and Whitstable, was an off-duty GP with her daughter. She had the knowledge and presence of mind to administer first aid and call an air ambulance.

"I was cycling home from college, going through Clowes Wood on a designated cycle path" says Ray. "All of a sudden I found myself waking up and all I could see was black. I could feel the blood pumping out of my head and the next thing I remember was a lady with a Dutch accent saying she was a doctor, telling me to lie down. She rolled me onto my side, put my head on her daughter's lap and phoned an ambulance. I had a two-inch hole in my head that was bleeding profusely, but she stopped the flow - and basically she saved my life. I have no idea who she is but I would love the chance to thank her. So if anyone knows who she is, please ask her to step forward and make herself known."

Ray's lawyer is Prolegal's Ben Posford, who specialises in catastrophic personal injury cases. He explained to me that the cycle path Ray was on was in a very sorry state of repair and that a broken piece of concrete had become stuck in Ray's front wheel, sending him over the handlebars, landing head first on the concrete and fracturing his skull. Ben intends to bring the company responsible for maintaining the path to account, for letting a designated cycle path fall into such awful disrepair. It encourages cyclists, but it's a death-trap. He would also like the GP to step forward, as she would be a key witness in Ray's case. 


If you've heard or know anything that could identify our Good Samaritan, please call Ben Posford at Prolegal on 0207 743 6700.
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Any takers for London's latest luxury pads? The Shard's publicity machine rolled into impressive action this week, starting with a reminder on Monday that the apartments go on sale later this Summer for a cool £30-£50 million a piece, the most prestigious apartments in Europe; followed by stories speculating about who will be buying them, The Evening Standard coining the phrase "Oligarchitecture" to let us all know who has been showing the most interest; and culminating this Friday with reports of the previous night's opening extravaganza. Check out this Telegraph video of the laser light show at the inauguration ceremony.

One news report the PR team probably didn’t plan was Monday’s story of the maintenance worker stranded on the outside of the building, 72 floors up, swinging in the wind.  the London Fire Brigade had to be called.  We were visiting our friends at Lawyers On Demand, at Berwin Leighton Paisner's offices on the opposite bank of the Thames from the Shard. They had seen it all that morning from their office window. It made national news later that day. For all its futuristic design, the Shard will require manual window-cleaning - 11,000 panes no less, covering an area the size of eight football pitches: the sound of Health and Safety lawyers across the City sharpening their pencils is audible.
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The banks' Summer corporate hospitality season has become just a little bit “Awkward”. We heard from an accountancy friend that his invite to the Henley Regatta from a bank at the heart of the Libor scandal was rather compromised when his hosts had to explain they couldn't attend themselves.  Instead they turned up just to hand over tickets and introduce their guests to each other, then made their excuses and left.  This year's Regatta of course coincided with the news of the Libor scandal breaking. A similar issue has arisen with other Summer hospitality events. The reason for their non-attendance? Apparently a Dictat from the heads of PR: no photo opportunities please of bankers swigging the champagne. Quite.