A holidaymaker speared through the eye by a flying parasol at a Tenerife hotel is set to receive millions of pounds in compensation.
Godfrey Keefe, 52, from Gateshead, was staying at the Bahia Principe Costa Hotel with his family in October 2006.
He was sitting beside the hotel pool when a gust of wind blew an unsecured parasol into his face, spearing his right eye socket and penetrating into his brain, causing him very serious injuries.
According to a report in the Telegraph, a judge in the case has valued his damages claim at more than £5 million, although the amount has yet to be assessed.
The case has dragged on for eight years because Hoteles Pinero Canarias SL, the owners of the resort, argued that Keefe was not entitled to sue them in England.
Instead the Spanish firm said he would have to take legal action in Spain, where damages awarded would have been below £600,000.
But at an Appeal Court this week, judges ruled that under European law he is entitled to sue both the hotel owners and their Spanish insurers in an English court.
Keefe, a keen sportsman, underwent emergency surgery to remove the parasol spike and has had more operations since.
According to his lawyers, he is now unfit to work and has to undergo an intensive care regime.
He was a director of a civil engineering firm at the time of the incident.
