As previously detailed at The Injury Blog, a $5.3 million personal injury settlement for a three-day old girl’s traumatic brain injuries in a 2003 ambulance crash has been approved by a Pennsylvania judge. Venango County Judge Oliver J. Lobaugh has signed off on what’s believed to be the largest personal injury settlement in the county, a $5,307,000 award to the parents of Joanne Knabb.

A story in The Derrick detailed that Knabb, who was born with a hole between the ventricles of her heart, was being transported by ambulance to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on February 22, 2003 when a drunken driver slammed into the vehicle. The newborn Knabb was thrown out of a malfunctioning transport incubator during the crash. Specifically, Joanne was thrown out of the apparatus when a retractable bar that attached the incubator to the ambulance snapped in half.

The accident not only left Joanne Knabb with traumatic brain injuries but also injuries to her bones, cartilage, ligaments, muscles, nerves and body tissue. As a result of her traumatic brain injuries, Knabb will require skilled medical care for the rest of her life. Now four years old, Joanne Knabb will never go to school because of her injuries.

Under the terms of the signed-off Pennsylvania personal injury settlement, the bulk of the damages will be paid by the manufacturer of the incubator and transporter, International Biomedical of Austin, Texas. IBI will pay $4,362,000 with $2.30 million of that going to the purchase of two annuities paying Joanne 13-grand per month for the rest of her life. IBI will pay the remaining $2.32 million in cash to Joanne’s parents, John Knabb III and Tracy Knabb.

This Pennsylvania personal injury settlement also includes the establishment of a special needs trust which will supplement the medical benefits Joanne receives now and in the future. The family will also receive in cash $500,000 from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, $150,000 from Guardian Angel Ambulance Service and $25,000 from the estate of John E. Bridge, the drunken driver who died during the accident.