The victim of a horrific leg and foot injury at a US tourist spot has finally been awarded damages by his insurer.  

Nineteen-year-old Connor Golden was ‘severely mutilated’ when he stepped on a homemade explosive device planted in New York’s iconic Central Park in the summer of 2016.

Following three emergency operations and a severe battle with infection, doctors had no choice but to amputate his left leg below the knee as a result of his injuries. Golden, from Fairfax in Virginia was climbing over a rock face with friends Thomas Hinds and Matthew Stabile when he unwittingly detonated the device.

Foot Injury Recovery

Golden, a keen outdoor sports enthusiast, was fitted with a prosthetic leg in September 2016 and has already regained the ability to walk. He continued his brave recovery by resuming his Music Engineering studies at the University of Miami.

However, his attempts to lead a normal life have been hindered by an ongoing claim battle with his health insurer, UnitedHealthcare. The Minnesota-based firm was reluctant to cover the costs of his artificial leg, offering only $1,000 towards the $20,000 cost of his new limb.

Whilst appealing the decision, Golden was forced to depend on the goodwill of friends, family and well-wishers who donated more than $80,000 to aid his recovery – helping to pay for his new limb and cover medical bills for physiotherapy and other recovery expenses.

Breakthrough

However, following an internal review of his case, UnitedHealthcare have now agreed to pay the cost of Connor’s new prosthetic limb.

In a statement, the company confirmed that they would be making a ‘special exception’ for Golden’s case, and would be releasing payment accounting for 90 percent of the original claim. They did, however, turn down a claim for a specially adapted wheelchair.

Speaking to the press Connor’s father Kevin Golden remained scathing of the insurers’ conduct: ‘UnitedHealthcare has shown themselves capable of denying even the most compelling claim.”

‘In my mind, there can be no real issue as to whether this is necessary or not. He clearly needed the prosthetic.’

Reward

The New York Police Department are yet to make an arrest in connection with the incident, but recently doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator(s) to $25,000.

Because the explosion caused injury to Golden but lacked adequate trajectory to harm either of his friends or anyone else in the park, police believe that those responsible are likely to be hobbyists who abandoned the device when it failed to work.