Five years after his leg was shattered in a traffic accident, a Pembroke man and his family are struggling to cope with the lingering expense of his injuries.Single mother Vanda Walker, whose son Alex Vanderpool was 15 years old when he nearly lost his left leg in a truck collision, believes the damages eventually awarded don’t come close to covering the cost.“He’s been having a lot of pain lately,” she told The Royal Gazette, adding: “For me, I’m just frustrated. It’s taken four years to get what we got and it’s been a struggle every step of the way.“Now they’re saying Alex’s left hip is crumbling and he’s going to need more operations. They don’t want to operate any time soon because he’s still young. But what we’re looking at is a lifelong disability because of what happened.”Mr Vanderpool was riding as pillion passenger on a motorcycle travelling west along Dundonald Street on February 28, 2007. It was struck by a truck driven by Sean Mallory, who was travelling east and crossed the centre line to make a right turn onto Cedar Avenue.Mr Mallory crossed the median line on an amber light turning red. On February 6, 2009, he admitted in Magistrates’ Court to liability for the accident, and a settlement was arranged with the Motor Insurance Board.Of his condition now, Mr Vanderpool said: “It’s more or less a throbbing pain, not constant. It comes every now and then.”The Fenton Drive resident is scarred, and walks with a noticeable limp. Once a skilled golfer with hopes of pursuing an athletic scholarship, he hasn’t taken the game back up since his accident.“I could have went on and played golf, even possibly at the college level. But since my accident, it’s hampered those kinds of choices.”He had hoped to get construction or labouring jobs as something to fall back on, but said: “I haven’t been able to get any work. There’s a lot of things I am not supposed to do now.”As a result of the accident, Mr Vanderpool was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with a complex fracture of his left femur. Surgery was on March 1, 2007 to repair the badly broken bone, classed as a “limb-life threatening injury”. He spent four days in Intensive Care, receiving several blood transfusions.Shortly after being treated, he complained of a new pain in his left hip. After an X-ray, he was diagnosed with a fracture of the neck of the left femur.He returned to surgery on March 12, and the bone was repaired with screws.In a letter submitted to the family’s lawyer that summer, orthopaedic surgeon Panagel Chelvam said he did not expect long-term problems with Mr Vanderpool’s hip but noted that the damaged knee would be prone to degenerative arthritis, “the timing of which is difficult to predict”.Lawyer Christopher Swan submitted a claim totalling $67,643 on February 24, 2009. Mr Swan assessed the claim at $60,000, with a $5,000 contribution toward legal fees, $2,130 in lost wages for Mr Vanderpool’s mother, and the rest in medical and police report fees.Mr Vanderpool was also advised that he would have to have further surgery to remove the plate and screws in two years’ time.However, following the 2009 surgery, Dr Chelvam in his final report observed: “Now it looks like his left hip will also develop degenerative arthritis in the next decade or so.”A recurrence of Mr Vanderpool’s pain this month has left the family uncertain of the surgery he will require in the years ahead, but they fear it could be a hip replacement.It was not until last year that the family received full payment — with costs of more than $20,000 awarded to their lawyer.Said Ms Walker, who works part-time at KFC as well as at the post office: “I have no money and I need to get this done and sorted. I just don’t see why I should have to pay any more money.”Both Ms Walker and her son expressed frustration with the pace of compensation, and the amount they received.“I feel like my time was wasted and my son’s time was wasted,” Ms Walker said. “Our doctor has been so adamant about how this was going to be a long-term thing. We didn’t get anything close to what we need. We’re going to take further steps to get compensation.“If he has to get a replacement hip, that’s going to be money. Even these latest doctor’s visits my son had to have are going to cost us. He was not on my insurance and he hasn’t been insured since he got out of school at CedarBridge.”Mr Vanderpool currently volunteers at KEMH, and hopes to study accounting at Bermuda College.Damp or humid weather worsens the pain, he said, which has lately been causing sharp discomfort.“I always know when there’s something wrong,” Ms Walker said. “Alex always used to go out doing things, but I know when the pain is bothering him. He will go very quiet.”She has been in contact with Mr Mallory, the motorist who took blame for the accident but who is reportedly of limited means.“I spoke with him when it first happened. He was not the type of guy to try and run from it. He was forthcoming. But once he admitted it, it should have been finished from there. All we needed to do was send our documents in to Motor Insurance. But it dragged on and on. Now I’m just trying to find out who I can go to.”