CLAYTON, Mo. (CN) - A St. Louis County jury awarded $18 million to a man paralyzed in a car accident and another $3 million to his wife, his primary caregiver since the accident.
Gregory Monroe, 50, testified that he expects to be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life, after a head-on collision in his SUV with a minivan on Dec. 3, 2004.
The driver of the minivan, Eugene Roedder, admitted fault but damages were disputed.
Monroe's attorneys, Timothy Gallagher and Robert Palmer, asked for $54 million, arguing that Monroe would need 24-hour care for the next 25 years.
Roedder's attorney, Cheryl Callis, suggested damages of $1.5 million for Monroe and $100,000 for his wife, citing Monroe's improvement through therapy.
Ford Motor Co. was a defendant because of the way Monroe's airbag deployed, but settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Monroe told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's starting a foundation, the American Association for People with Disabilities, to make agencies, doctors and counselors more accessible to the disabled.
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