Sheng’s story: “I’m lucky I’m still alive”

For National Road Safety Week, we’re shining a light on some of our clients who’ve been in devastating accidents on the road, the life-altering injuries they experienced as a result, and how they’ve come out the other side with an important message; to please be safe on our roads.

Sheng Lu was waiting to enter a freeway when he was rear-ended by a stolen vehicle at high speed.

“I was hit by a stolen car. They were speeding and they hit me and drove away.”

Through no fault of his own, Sheng suffered bad neck, shoulder and lower back injuries, causing him a lot of pain and discomfort, as well as preventing him from being able to work. 

Before the accident, Sheng ran a takeaway food shop, which he sadly had to close due to his injuries and inability to perform the duties he used to.

“I was running 5km around the park before and I could pick up 20kgs… Now picking up just 2kg can hurt,” he says.

Sheng has now had shoulder surgery five times, recently underwent surgery on his lower back, and is still on the waiting list for his neck injury.

Despite his injuries and their impact on his life, TAC denied the seriousness of his injuries and tried to pay much lower compensation than he deserved.

With help from our lawyer, Claire Hart, Sheng is now able to access the treatment required for his injuries, and much higher compensation for the injuries, pain, suffering and lost income/future loss of income he had experienced.

Sheng says he had tried contacting a few other law firms but didn’t receive much communication back. With Claire, he heard back straight away and “felt much more support”.

“Maurice Blackburn really supported my case and gave me lots of help… Claire was more professional and responsible than other lawyers I had met. Sometimes I had no idea what was going on, and she helped me understand my options.”

Sheng’s life has been changed forever due to the car accident he was involved in. While financial compensation helps cover the costs of medical appointments, surgeries and lost income, nothing can compensate for the pain and suffering he and his family have experienced.

While Sheng is grateful to be alive, he implores all road users to take road safety seriously.