Marine left tetraplegic after training fall

When Noel Giles fell, he was inching along a horizontal rope toward his ambition of becoming a Royal Marine commando. He was carrying "fighting order" of 32lbs of equipment and had been unable to master the technique of this "full regain" manoeuvre on a couple of previous attempts. This was to be his last.

Noel, aged 31 and the father of two young children, lost his grip and fell to the shingle below. He landed on his head, and never moved again. It was June 1998 and, in October 2004, Noel died. But during those six years, Noel never lost his grip on life. He became an inspiration to fellow victims of spinal injury.

Noel's ambition was to join the Royal Marines full time. But he was too old to enlist directly. His only chance of becoming a regular marine was through the Royal Marine reserves. And was why he came to be dangling from the rope at training course at the Royal Marine training centre at Lympstone, Devon

He had tried the full regain on a couple of occasions over a tank of water but he hadn't mastered the technique fully.

Despite that, he was then required to do it over shingle. He basically had to go across the rope with full webbing on, swing down and then swing his legs back onto the rope before continuing horizontally across the rope.

He had no formal rope work training and the landing beneath the rope was inadequate.

The fall should never have caused such terrible injuries. He landed on his head, sustaining permanent injury between his brain stem and spinal cord that left him a tetraplegic kept alive by a ventilator in Odstock hospital, Salisbury.

Although he had a nerve implant that meant he could breathe unaided during the day, he had poor airway protection that made him susceptible to chest infections.

Noel had no bowel or bladder function and had lost sensation over much of his body. All he could do was talk.

Noel was the most remarkable man, most people would have big psychological problems and suffer from marked depression but his was storic throughout.

When the Armed Forces team began investigating the incident, they uncovered a shocking episode of neglect by the Royal Marines.

The team secured interim payments from the Ministry of Defence. They were able to get Noel into a house properly adapted for his needs, a car and full time carers.

There was even a home cinema so that Noel could find some escape, he would say that watching films made him feel normal.

The team settled his claim for damages after a long argument over Noel's life expectancy. The ministry lawyers finally agreed structured - or phased - payments totalling £7.3m.

At the time of settlement Noel's case was the largest of its kind.

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If you would like to seek expert legal advice relating to this case study or any other injury claim please complete the online enquiry form or call 0800 915 4650